Originally published November 13, 2020. Updated November 21, 2020.
It seems that The CW is looking to expand its DC output even further, with Deadline reporting that a potential Black Lightning spinoff entitled Painkiller is being set up as a backdoor pilot in an episode of Black Lightning’s upcoming fourth season.
Written, directed and executive produced by Black Lightning showrunner Salim Akil, Painkiller will see Jordan Calloway reprising his role from the main series. The logline reads as follows:
Painkiller follows Khalil Payne, a man ridden with the guilt of his troubled past from his former life in Freeland City, where, as a super-enhanced killing machine known as Painkiller he was both a member of Tobias Whale’s gang and a weapon of Agent Odell and the shadowy ASA.
After attempting to bury the darker, devastatingly lethal Painkiller part of his persona, Khalil has distanced himself away from everyone he knows and loves in a new city, Akashic Valley, in order to find peace, but peace never comes easy for men with pasts like his. As his violent, destructive history crashes his idyllic new beginning, Khalil is thrusted back into action with a new mission: bring justice where he once gave out punishment. But to do that, he will first have to deal with and harness his darker side.
Black Lightning season four will premiere in February 2021, with the seventh episode serving as the backdoor pilot. Warner Bros. Television will produce, but unlike the rest of The CW’s DC series, Berlanti Productions will not be involved with the potential Painkiller series.
