Geekery: The CW’s ‘Black Lightning’ Preview
The classic super hero is coming to the CW in the near future – apart from the Arrowverse.
Black Lightning joined the DC universe in 1977, and was one of the first major Black super heroes to appear in comics. Beyond his ability to manipulate electricity he’s an Olympic decathlete, martial artist, and overall badass. He’s been a member of the Justice League and the Outsiders.
The series has stuck with parts of his origin story and remixed them a little…
Jefferson Pierce is a man wrestling with a secret. Nine years ago, Pierce was gifted with the superhuman power to harness and control electricity, which he used to keep his hometown streets safe as the masked vigilante Black Lightning. However, after too many nights with his life and his family on the line, he left his Super Hero days behind. 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, Black Lightning returns — to save not only his family, but also the soul of his community.
https://youtu.be/RZpJeuXo2CY
He will not be included in the Arrowverse – includes Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl,and Legends of Tomorrow. There’s been a bit of an argument online as to why this is a good or bad thing. I don’t see what’s wrong with allowing the character to be the lead in his own universe, and not be crammed in with the current bunch.
In a recent interview Cress Williams – the actor playing Black Lightning – talked a bit about what the show is at its core…
It’s exactly that. I liken it to Battlestar Galactica. I’m a huge fan of that show, and I got a lot of friends who were into it because whether or not you like sci-fi, it was a great drama. People who weren’t a fan of genre liked the show. That’s our show, is that we’re a family drama. We’re rooted in real life, with super powers on top of it. We haven’t seen that — of course, our skin tone, we haven’t seen a lot of that either, but it’s rooted in real life and it’s really a family drama at the heart of it.
Jefferson Pierce is older; he’s a hero that’s being forced out of retirement to protect his family and community. His story is different, and the type of hero he will likely be is different. I’m fine with him having a stand alone series.
What do you think?
