The CW is set to add another DC show to its slate midseason with the arrival of Black Lightning, and according to showrunner Salim Akil, Jefferson Pierce may not be the only superhero we’ll be seeing the series.
“I love the idea of Static Shock, and in success, hopefully, we’ll be able to pull other characters in that way,” said Akil. “So I’m holding out hope because I love that character.”
Warner Bros. has had ambitions of bringing Virgil Hawkins into the world of live action for several years now, with a digital series announced way back in 2014 and rumours that Jaden Smith was being eyed for the lead as Static. However, the project failed to materialise.
Turning back to Black Lightning and while it has previously been announced that the show won’t be part of the Arrowverse, it seems that could change somewhere down the line, with Akil adding that: “The storytelling is a little bit more political. It’s topical, and it’s a little grittier. It doesn’t mean that down the road there won’t be visits.”
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.
Via CBM
Originally published June 16, 2017. Updated November 21, 2019.
