Black Lightning recently got the nod to become the CW’s fifth DC Comics show, which left fans with a bunch of questions. Not least, how’s he going to look. Fortunately, we have a first look at his costume, which is a bit more impressive than his ’70s getup.
If you’re unfamiliar, Black Lightning, aka Jefferson Pierce, was the first Black superhero to headline his own book at DC, after one of In the single worst ideas DC ever tossed around the bullpen was thankfully filed away. A gold medal Olympian and educator, he returned to Metropolis’ South Side (better known as Suicide Slum) with his family to run the local high school, and quickly discovers a need to beat up crooks at night. On the show, Lightning (played by Cress Williams) retired years ago, in part because he did more good during school hours than spending his nights punching gangsters, only to find his daughter is following in his footsteps. And if that weren’t enough, one of his students is being forcibly recruited by a gang, so out comes the power armor.
In theory, Pierce won’t be hanging out with Barry, Ollie, and the gang, but considering how often Kara pops in to say hi, we don’t expect that to last. We’ll find out once the pilot is shot and the CW decides to take it to series.