Black Lightning is an American superhero drama television series, developed by Salim Akil, that premiered on The CW on January 16, 2018, and concluded on May 24, 2021. It is based on the character of the same name, created by Jenny Blake Isabella with Trevor Von Eeden, featured in publications of DC Comics. Cress Williams stars as the titular character alongside China Anne McClain, Nafessa Williams, Christine Adams, Marvin "Krondon" Jones III, Damon Gupton, James Remar, Jordan Calloway, and Chantal Thuy. The series sees the retired Black Lightning return to his life as a superhero and follows the effects of his vigilante activity on his professional and family life.
Originally in development at Fox, the project was given a pilot production commitment in September 2016. In February 2017, Fox passed on the project and The CW subsequently picked it up with an order for a new pilot script. The CW officially ordered Black Lightning to series in May 2017. The first season premiered on January 16, 2018, and ran for 13 episodes. In April 2018, The CW renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on October 9, 2018, and ran for 16 episodes.
The show's third season, which premiered on October 7, 2019, featured the series' first tie-ins with the network's other DC Comics television series, known collectively as the Arrowverse, leading into Williams' appearance as Black Lightning in their "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event, which resulted in the series' setting merging with that of the other Arrowverse shows. The fourth and final season premiered on February 8, 2021, ending on May 24, 2021.
Series overview The series focuses on Jefferson Pierce, the principal of Garfield High School in the city of Freeland, Georgia. Nine years ago, he was a superhero called Black Lightning, but he retired when that life negatively impacted his ex-wife Lynn Stewart and his daughters Anissa and Jennifer. Jefferson is forced to become Black Lightning again when associates of The 100, Freeland's most feared criminal gang led by Tobias Whale, kidnap Anissa and Jennifer. After the incident, Anissa starts to develop her abilities and becomes Thunder while Jennifer starts to develop her own electrical abilities. In addition, Jennifer's boyfriend Khalil Payne is corrupted by Whale and is forced to undergo cybernetic enhancements after a gunshot wound leaves him paraplegic. Following a showdown between Jennifer and a corrupt A.S.A. agent, Whale acquires the contents of an A.S.A. briefcase.
In season two, Jennifer works to improve her powers as Whale works to translate the contents of the briefcase. Freeland Police Inspector Henderson discovers Jefferson and Anissa's superhero identities, but secretly allows them to continue their fight against the 100. Meanwhile, Lynn works with Markovian scientist Helga Jace on young metahumans being held by A.S.A. Agent Odell. Stewart is unaware that the project benefits Whale. Following Khalil's apparent death, Jennifer becomes Lightning to help her father. Whale manages to get some of the contents translated which leads to him getting control of the Masters of Disaster. As Jefferson and Jennifer defeat Tobias, who is later incarcerated in the Pit, Jace is handed over of Henderson and is later taken back to Markovia by the teleporting bounty hunter Instant. As the Pierces celebrate their victory, Odell reveals that he knows their secret identities. He tells them that the Markovians are coming to Freeland and that the A.S.A. is swearing them in for the inevitable war.
In season three, the A.S.A. imposes martial law on Freeland while covering up to the media that there is a SARS outbreak. Having some of the people who are suspected metahumans placed in the A.S.A.'s facility, Odell plans to weaponize those who have metahuman abilities while having Commander Carson Williams, Major Sara Grey, and Sergeant Gardner Grayle working for him to impose the martial law. To make matters worse, Odell had Khalil revived and reprogrammed to serve him. While having been given a new suit by Odell, Jefferson does help against the Markovian soldiers working under Colonel Yuri Mosin. Lynn continues to work with the pod kids while getting bone marrow samples from an incarcerated Tobias while Jennifer meets a geokinetic metahuman named Brandon. After an incident that merges Jefferson's Earth with Earth-1 and Earth-38, the Markovians managed to abduct Lynn and Tobias so that she can stabilize the metahumans in their possession. The delays cause Mosin's superiors to send their metahuman operative Gravedigger to take over the operation and use his mind control ability to make Lynn work faster. Jefferson rescues her with the help of Anissa, Jennifer, Brandon, Grayle, T.C., Khalil, and Erica Moran while taking Helga Jace with them, but Tobias is left behind. When Gravedigger and the Markovians begin their invasion of Freeland, Odell orders Commander Williams and Major Grey to purge Freeland of those involved with the A.S.A. Henderson ends up in a mutual kill with a Markovian soldier when saving Black Lightning. While Commander Williams was killed by Lynn in self-defense and Major Grey was killed during her group's shootout with Peter and T.C., Jefferson defeats Gravedigger while Khalil thwarts Odell's departure and Tobias' plans to get access to Markovia's metahumans. Though Markovia's prime minister denies what happened in Freeland, the Pierces present the briefcase to a congressional committee as evidence of their and the A.S.A.'s experiments unaware that Gravedigger survived the Pit's self-destruct sequence.
One year later in season four, Jefferson has stopped being Black Lightning. The 100 is in a turf war with the Kobra Cartel. Tobias is now working as a philanthropist much to the Pierces and Gambi's dismay. In light of Henderson's death, Mayor Billy Black swears in Ana Lopez as the new chief of police. Tobias causes trouble for Jefferson and his allies, such as having Black killed. Kobra enlists the assassin Ishmael to target Jefferson's allies and get the remaining kills he needs to join the League of Assassins.
Episodes
Cast and characters
Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce / Black Lightning:The principal of a charter school and, secretly, a retired superhero with the ability to harness and manipulate electricity as well as enhanced strength. He returns to fighting crime as Black Lightning after his daughters are kidnapped by a local gang. Kaden Washington Lewis portrays a young Jefferson Pierce. China Anne McClain and Laura Kariuki (recurring: season 4) as Jennifer Pierce / Lightning:Jefferson's younger daughter, "an independent, outspoken scholar-athlete with a wild streak of her own" who is a student at Garfield High. Fallyn Brown portrays a young Jennifer Pierce. Nafessa Williams as Anissa Pierce / Thunder / Blackbird:Jefferson's "passionate and quick-witted" elder daughter who is in medical school and teaches part-time at Garfield High. Also a metahuman, Anissa has the ability to manipulate her density with her breathing, endowing herself with superhuman strength and durability. She can also create powerful thunderlike shockwaves and has an accelerated healing factor. Discussing her character becoming the first black lesbian superhero on television, Williams said, "I'm just really grateful to tell the story for young lesbians — and black lesbians in particular. My hope is that when you watch Anissa, a young lesbian is inspired to walk boldly as who she is and to love herself and to love herself exactly how she looks." Christine Adams as Lynn Stewart:A neuroscientist focusing on metahuman studies and Jefferson's ex-wife who also serves as his love interest. Marvin "Krondon" Jones III as Tobias Whale:An African-American man with albinism and Black Lightning's nemesis. Damon Gupton as Bill Henderson (seasons 1–3):A veteran inspector and the highest-ranking detective on the force who later becomes deputy chief of the Freeland Police Department. James Remar as Peter Gambi:Jefferson's oldest friend who became a father figure and mentor to him following his father's death. Jordan Calloway as Khalil Payne / Painkiller (season 2–4; recurring: season 1):A student at Garfield High and Jennifer's love interest who encourages her against her more rebellious tendencies. Chantal Thuy as Grace Choi (season 4; recurring: seasons 1–3):A bartender who becomes Anissa's girlfriend. She is a metahuman with shapeshifting abilities.
Production Development In September 2016, after going through several incarnations and various stages of development for over a year, Mara Brock Akil, her husband Salim Akil, and perennial Warner Bros. Television producer Greg Berlanti began pitching Black Lightning to television networks. The Akils wrote the script while serving as executive producers alongside Berlanti and his frequent collaborator Sarah Schechter. A week later, the project landed at Fox with a pilot production commitment. In February 2017, Fox opted to not go forward with the pilot, deciding that it was "not a good fit into its already crowded genre drama space" and the project was subsequently shopped to other networks. As the home to several of Berlanti's other television ventures, The CW emerged as the network that was likely to realize the series. The following day, The CW officially ordered a pilot for Black Lightning. The original pilot script that had been written for Fox was discarded and instead, a short presentation was shot ahead of the network's final decisions regarding pickup orders.
The CW officially ordered Black Lightning to series on May 10, 2017, with Salim Akil to serve as showrunner. On April 2, 2018, The CW renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on October 9, 2018. On January 31, 2019, The CW renewed the series for a third season, which premiered on October 7, 2019. On January 7, 2020, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on February 8, 2021. On November 20, 2020, The CW confirmed that the fourth season will be the final season of the series.
Writing In order to have an "authentic black voice" for its setting and characters, Black Lightning utilizes a predominantly African-American writing staff. Salim Akil shared that the writers are not all African-American but "have either lived this life or know someone who has." In writing the first season, showrunner Akil stated that he was most inspired by the original run of Black Lightning comic books and that Black Lightning being a black father who defies the "deadbeat stereotype" was part of the reason for the Akils wanting to tell his story. He described Jefferson and his family as "the Obamas of the superhero world" and compared the duality of Jefferson Pierce and his alter ego Black Lightning to the duality of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. As a character-driven family drama, Black Lightning does not follow a villain of the week format in order to better explore the characters, especially the villains. The Akils also indicated that the writers would not be treating LGBTQ representation as a "special issue" but that such characters would be included and depicted "the way anyone would be included in life." Salim Akil noted that topics such as the Black Lives Matter movement and other issues concerning race relations and police brutality would be addressed, but stressed that, "This is an American story, this is not a black story. We're going to be culturally specific, but universal in our themes so everyone can see themselves in these stories." The showrunner likened the narrative of the first season to the real story of the Tuskegee experiment.