Fans of the Black Lightning of DC will be shocked to know that the electrifying superhero is now getting his own show on the CW channel.
Cress Williams, best known for starring in "Hart of Dixie" and "Friday Night Lights," will be starring as Jefferson Pierce a.k.a. Black Lightning. Other cast members such include Christine Adams, Nafessa Williams, and China Anne McClain who will be playing as his wife and two daughters, respectively. They will also be taking up the superhero mantle.
Fans should be advised though that the show is not an origin story of the superhero and will not follow the conventional superhero plot where it is chronologically revealed how the protagonist got his power. Instead, "Black Lightning" will start off years after Pierce acquired his powers. He is actually retired in the series as the costumed superhero.
This was due to the toll which crime-fighting took on both Pierce and his family. But, while Pierce still tried to do his best to help people only as a model citizen and school principal, he noticed that he could not escape his responsibility as Black Lightning when trouble manages to find him. This time around though, he won't be flying solo, as he will be employing the help of his two daughters, who will be adapting their own aliases, Lightning and Thunder.
A trailer has also been released and uploaded to YouTube, and it shows the series' plot and backstory, where the enemies of Pierce's past has managed to creep up on him once again. Apparently, he was also dead and was just resurrected somehow before the series begins; this is what could have prompted him to lie low for the time being.
Black Lightning is a member of the DC universe who is able to control electricity. He has taken it upon himself to clean the city of Metropolis of its organized crime in residing in the Suicide Slum sector. He also had ties with Batman, as the Dark Knight employed him to be a part of his team called Outsiders, where he was active for many years until he retired and decided to join the Justice League after a period of inactivity.
"Black Lightning" premieres on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018, at 9 p.m. EST on the CW.
