As I grew older, I slowly started to walk away from the kind of shows CW delivers out. Not because any of them are bad, it’s just that my taste and tolerance for the soapy angle has changed. But I’ve been following news about their new addition to the Arrow-verse: Black Lightning. I am shamelessly excited about it. Cress Williams (Hart of Dixie) has been cast as the titular Black Lightning/Jefferson Pierce along with Christine Adams ( Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) to play Jefferson’s Ex-wife and Nefessa Williams (Code Black) & Chaina Ann McCain (A.N.T. Farm) to play as the daughters. In the comics, Jefferson’s daughters follow in their father’s footsteps as Thunder & lightning respectively. But CW’s showrunners Mara Brock and Salim Akil have different plans.
The show will follow Jefferson Pierce, a retired hero that decided to serve others through education; as a Principal. He is separated from his wife and is responsible for their youngest daughter Jennifer Pierce (McCain) who takes up the mantle of hero. Annissa Pierce (Williams) is in her twenties and juggles being a medical student and part-time teacher at Jefferson’s school. With Jennifer out there in the field and kids on the verge of being recruited by local gangs neighborhood gives cause for Jefferson to bring back out his suit (And I hope his suit looks better on the silver screen then the actual picture below) Jefferson will no doubt have his hands full the this in addition to his personal issues with his ex-wife and the dealings of being a principal. Other than that, not much else is discussed as far as the Season’s story. I think it’s good to make the first season more local/urban to what is happening to Jefferson. The pilot is currently in production as I write. With this new addition, I’m definitely coming back to the Arrow-verse.
Show Info:
Greg Berlanti, Salim Akil, Mara Brock Akil and Sarah Schechter are executive producers of Black Lightning, from Berlanti Productions and Akil Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. Salim Akil is directing the pilot from a script he wrote.
Jefferson Pierce made his choice: he hung up the suit and his secret identity years ago, but with a daughter hell-bent on justice and a star student being recruited by a local gang, he’ll be pulled back into the fight as the wanted vigilante and DC legend — Black Lightning.
