black lightning

With the premiere of ‘Black Lightning‘ only a few weeks away, the CW has released a new trailer for the latest addition to their superhero coffers, this time giving us more of a feel for the tone of the new series, which looks to be markedly different from what we are already seeing over on ‘Arrow,’ ‘Supergirl,’ ‘The Flash,’ and ‘Legends of Tomorrow.’

The show already looked to be a bit more grounded.  Now it appears that the idea is for the hero to be more of a neighborhood champion, making the local streets a “Bastion of hope” (to borrow a line from the trailer itself) as Black Lightning returns from being retired for around 9 years to help clean up the streets and make the area safe for his family and friends once more. Clearly, the show will have a family vibe, similar to ‘The Flash,’ only the hero will be the seasoned vet and not a newbie figuring things out like Barry. We will most likely see him facing some serious moral and philosophical quandaries due to his experience and maturity. Which is not to say there will not be some elements of fun here as the fight scenes still look bad-ass, the CGI used for his powers look top-notch, and the banter sounds like it has the right balance of funny and serious that the best superhero shows tend to bring out. Needless to say, I’m excited to see what the series has in store for us.

The series is produced by Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil and stars Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce (aka Black Lightning), as well as Nafessa Williams, China Anne McClain, Christine Adams, James Remar, Damon Gupton, and Marvin “Krondon” Jones III. It premieres this month on the CW on Tuesday January 16th. Check out the full trailer for yourself right here, and make sure to leave your thoughts on the trailer in the comments below!

 

Jefferson Pierce is a man wrestling with a secret. Nine years ago, Pierce was gifted with the superhuman power to harness and control electricity, which he used to keep his hometown streets safe as the masked vigilante Black Lightning. However, after too many nights with his life and his family on the line, he left his Super Hero days behind. 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, Black Lightning returns — to save not only his family, but also the soul of his community.