A trailer for the upcoming Black Lightning CW show, along with a synopsis, was released today:
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZpJeuXo2CY
Black Lightning has a lot of promise, with the focus on family being a standout ingredient of the show. Relationships in the CW DC hero epics are what make them so compelling and enjoyable. Legacy and family are an important part of the comics and it’s nice to see those elements show up in all these programs. The juxtaposition of realism and the fantastic in the trailer also stands out. It seems like they won’t build up to the superhero aspects of the show but embrace them instead right away. It helps that those lightning punches look pretty cool, too.
@Keith_Dooley
According to CW chief Mark Pedowitz, Black Lightning won’t take place in the Arrowverse. That’s very disappointing. If they’re worried about too many superheroes, then they don’t know us geeks. There can NEVER be too many heroes in one TV universe, let alone a comic book universe. Or a multiverse! – Keith Justin Dooley