Just two weeks before "Black Lightning" premieres on-screen, The CW released a new poster featuring Nafessa Williams as Thunder, the daughter of Black Lightning.
In the poster, Thunder sports a superhero costume similar to her look in the comic book series. It's also similar to her father, Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) a.k.a. Black Lightning's official costume, although while her dad sports a motif of blue and silver, Thunder's costume got tinges of golden yellow.
By day, Thunder is Anissa Pierce. "Passionate and quick-witted, Jefferson's twenty-something daughter balances the demands of medical school with her job teaching part-time at her father's school," her character description says.
Like her father, Anissa is a metahuman, and her powers include being bulletproof and delivering extremely strong shockwaves. According to DC, Anissa also discovers that she can increase her body mass without affecting her size, which is handy as she can make herself impenetrable.
Both Jefferson's daughters are gifted with superpowers just like him, but in a previous interview, EP Salim Akil revealed that Jefferson won't be at all pleased when he finds out. "It's hard for any parent to see their children grow out of the nest," said Akil.
"That's how Jefferson will react to seeing his daughters get their powers. In a way, he'll be a little fearful, because he understands what having powers is and what it means. The same way when parents see their children go off into the world without them, they're a little fearful because they understand what the world has in store for them. But you can't stop that. You have to let them grow."
"Black Lightning" follows the story of Jefferson Pierce, a principal of a charter high school and a father to Anissa and Jennifer (China Ann McClain). Years before his prime, he was known as "Black Lightning," a masked vigilante that fights crime in his neighborhood by using his powers over electricity. He's mostly retired, but new events in his life will make him unleash his powers again.
"Black Lightning" will premiere on January 16 at 9 p.m. EST on The CW.
