SummaryJefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) had retired from his secret identity of Black Lightning many years ago, but when danger threatens his twenty-something daughter, Jennifer (Nafessa Williams), and a student at her school is being lured by a gang, he returns to the fight.
SummaryJefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) had retired from his secret identity of Black Lightning many years ago, but when danger threatens his twenty-something daughter, Jennifer (Nafessa Williams), and a student at her school is being lured by a gang, he returns to the fight.
Jefferson Pierce isn't just a superhero. He's a social justice warrior. He quotes Martin Luther King Jr. AND beats up bad guys. This instantly makes him one of the most interesting heroes on television.
Lightning is distinguished by its instantly distinctive blend of social realism and sense of humor--it is simultaneously the most relevant and the funniest of The CW/DC Comics shows.
Black Lightning, based on yet another DC Comics property, is smart and relevant and full of an attitude that's all its own. It takes its characters and their world seriously, but thus far doesn't take itself too seriously. And, best of all, it's ostensibly entirely separate from Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, Arrow and Supergirl, so the risk of time-consuming crossovers or key plot points delivered on a different show is currently nil.
The main storyline involves a nefarious crime lord, played by Marvin “Krondon” Jones III, whose gang, The 100, is terrifying the city, but it's Black Lightning’s journey into social issues--the character quotes Martin Luther King Jr. at one point in the premiere--that separates him from the rest of the superhero pack.