“Justice walks like thunder, strikes like lightning, and runs in the family”
The first trailer for Black Lightning, the latest DC superhero to get a live-action series on the CW, dropped today. Check it out:
Justice walks like thunder and strikes like lightning. #BlackLightning is coming soon to The CW! pic.twitter.com/amDvuo8hpq
— Black Lightning (@blacklightning) May 18, 2017
The character of Black Lightning was created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden in 1977 and was one of DC’s first major African-American characters. The trailer seems fairly grounded and realistic despite Black Lightning being a metahuman (as well as both his daughters which is hinted at here). Tonally this seems to be a departure from even the darkest of the CW superhero shows Arrow and looks to tackle real issues. The tone shift probably has something to do with the revelation that Black Lightning will not be a part of the larger Arrowverse on the network and will not be a part of any 5-part crossovers.
You can check out a new expanded synopsis below:
Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) is a man wrestling with a secret. As the father of two daughters and principal of a charter high school that also serves as a safe haven for young people in a New Orleans neighborhood overrun by gang violence, he is a hero to his community. Nine years ago, Pierce was a hero of a different sort. Gifted with the superhuman power to harness and control electricity, he used those powers to keep his hometown streets safe as the masked vigilante Black Lightning. However, after too many nights with his life on the line, and seeing the effects of the damage and loss that his alter ego was inflicting on his family, he left his Super Hero days behind and settled into being a principal and a dad. Choosing to help his city without using his superpowers, he watched his daughters Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Jennifer (China Anne McClain) grow into strong young women, even though his marriage to their mother, Lynn (Christine Adams), suffered. Almost a decade later, Pierce’s crime-fighting days are long behind him…or so he thought. But with crime and corruption spreading like wildfire, and those he cares about in the crosshairs of the menacing local gang The One Hundred, Black Lightning returns — to save not only his family, but also the soul of his community. Based on the characters from DC, BLACK LIGHTNING is from Berlanti Productions and Akil Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti (“Arrow,” “The Flash”), Salim Akil & Mara Brock Akil (“Being Mary Jane,” “The Game,” “Girlfriends”), and Sarah Schechter (“Arrow,” “The Flash”). The Black Lightning character was created by Tony Isabella with Trevor Von Eeden.
Black Lightning will debut in 2018 as a part of the CW’s midseason lineup and stars Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce (Black Lightning), China Anne McClain as Jennifer Pierce, Christine Adams as Lynn and Nafessa Williams as Anissa Pierce.
