Originally published July 23, 2017. Updated November 30, 2022.
The CW showcased its DC superhero slate at the San Diego Comic-Con yesterday, offering up the first trailers for the new seasons of Supergirl, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow.
While the network didn’t have any footage from its newest DC show Black Lightning, we did however get word on two new series regulars, with James Remar (Dexter) and Damon Gupton (Bates Motel) both announced as signing on to the cast.
Per Coming Soon, Remar will play Peter Gambi, “the oldest friend of Jefferson Pierce. Gambi is Jefferson’s father figure, mentor and ‘tailor.’ His history with Jefferson goes back farther and deeper than anyone knows, and Gambi’s role in Jefferson’s life will become a painful window into the past that will affect the future of their relationship forever.
Gupton is set to play Inspector Henderson, “a veteran officer of the law who is now the highest-ranking detective on the force. His role in the community puts him at odds with Black Lightning, but they soon become unlikely allies.”
SEE ALSO: Cress Williams talks Black Lightning, new image released
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.
Black Lightning is slated to premiere in early 2018.
