CW’s ‘Black Lightning’ Drops First Trailer

CW had their Upfronts presentation today, which means we learned a lot of juicy things about their new upcoming series. One of the most anticipated series, Black Lightning, dropped a First Look trailer despite not debuting until midseason. Check it out below!

The trailer begins with a flashback to twelve years ago, when the superhero Black Lightning “was a savior who kept our streets and our schools safe.” Though he filled the city with hope due to the lives he saved, he was also a father and husband named Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) whose work was tearing his family apart. His elder daughter Anissa (Nafissa Williams) narrates, Jefferson made a promise to his wife Lynn (Christine Adams) that he would give up being a superhero and focus on his family instead. He became the principal of their high school and started saving young souls instead. And all was well until…

Twelve years later, a gang called The One Hundred has overrun the city with violence, and superheroes are needed more than every day ones. Jefferson has so other choice but to suit up once more, and so Black Lightning is reborn. But can he protect his citizens and his children, especially when they start developing powers of their own? And will winning the town back for its people mean losing his wife in the process?

The trailer for Black Lightning looks spectacular, as Salim & Mara Brock Akil’s (Being Mary Jane, The Game) handiwork is evident throughout. Even Jefferson’s costume, which could easily run the risk of losing cheesy, just adds a fun touch and fits the tone of the story. While the news that the show won’t be part of the Arrowverse is devastating and suspicious to some – and I can’t disagree – the distance might also give Black Lightning a chance to develop its own, higher calibre brand. Hopefully the show won’t need Barry Allen to drop by for a ratings boost, but if it does then I expect the CW to deliver. They managed to crossover to LA in another universe and network for Supergirl last year, so I see no reason they can’t do the same for Atlanta on the same channel if – and only if – the newcomer needs it.

Black Lightning also stars China Anne McClain as younger daughter Jennifer, and will air on the CW Spring of 2018.