When it comes to superheroes on TV – DC in particular – you can bet your life that Greg Berlanti will be involved somewhere down the line. Indeed, the same thing seems to be ringing true for the planned TV series of adaptation of Black Lightning. Developed by Berlanti and written by husband-and-wife pair Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil (Being Mary Jane, The Game), the chances of it seeing the light of day have been given a boost by the announcement that Fox has given it a pilot order.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Fox has targetted it as its next DC adaptation after Gotham. Indeed, it will be treading new ground as far as on-screen superhero portrayals go, with Black Lightning being one of the first African-American comic-book heroes (and if this goes ahead, the first black superhero to headline a superhero-themed series on cable TV).
The synopsis for the show is as follows:
Written by the Akils, Black Lightning centers on Jefferson Pierce. He 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.
With his daughters both being superheroes in the comic-books, it looks like the series will be following a similiar angle, although the premise is a nice twist – so far, all the superhero series have been origin stories, while this will instead show someone (possibly) past his prime, looking back at his legacy.
Gotham has been a mixed bag in terms of quality, but there’s definitely enough about Black Lightning to suggest that Fox could be onto a winner here. Hopefully this is indeed the case.
An air date for Black Lightning is yet to be announced. You can download The 25 Greatest DC Comics Ever digital edition from GreatDigitalMags.com now. For all the latest movie news, pick up the new issue of SciFiNow.
