Black Superhero Drama From Greg Berlanti, Salim and Mara Brock Akil in the Works

DC Comics guru Greg Berlanti is teaming with The Game's Salim and Mara Brock Akil for a potentially ground-breaking superhero drama.

The Arrow/Flash/Supergirl/Legends of Tomorrow exec producer is working with the Akils to develop Black Lightning, a drama about one of DC Comics' first major African-American superheroes. (The character debuted in 1977 and was created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden.)

A network is not yet attached, but the drama is being pitched to networks this development season after being in the works at Warner Bros. Television — where the Akils and Berlanti are under rich overall deals.

Here's the official logline: Jefferson Pierce 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.

In the comics, Pierce has two daughters who both became superheroes: Anissa Pierce (aka Thunder), a member of the Outsiders; and Jennifer Pierce (aka Lightning), who is recruited by the Justice Society of America.

The Akils (Being Mary Jane) will pen the script and exec produce alongside Greg Berlanti Productions' Berlanti and Sarah Schechter.

Should Black Lightning move to series at a broadcast network, the drama would be the first to feature an African-American superhero as its lead. Netflix, of course, has Marvel drama Luke Cage due this month.

For Berlanti, Black Lightning marks his latest DC Comics-inspired drama. In addition to Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow, he has Archie Comics take Riverdale — also based on the DC characters — due to join his super slate at The CW. Black Lightning also marks Berlanti's latest sale this development season, where he's reteaming with Blindspot creator Martin Gero for Criminal at ABC and Raised by Wolves with Diablo Cody at ABC. The Akils, in their first year with WBTV, also have Documenting Love at ABC.

Fox Lands Black Superhero Drama From Greg Berlanti, Salim and Mara Brock Akil

Fox may soon be adding another DC Comics character to its roster.

The network has given a pilot production commitment to Black Lightning, the black superhero drama from prolific superhero series producer Greg Berlanti, and The Game's Salim and Mara Brock Akil, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

One of DC Comics' first major African-American superheroes, Black Lightning was created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden and debuted in 1977. The hourlong drama will center on Jefferson Pierce, who hung up his suit and his secret identity years ago. However, 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.

The Akils will write and exec produce the project with Berlanti and his producing partner Sarah Schechter. Their respective banners, Akil Productions and Berlanti Productions, will produce in association with Warner Bros. TV.

Should Black Lightning be picked up, it would be the first broadcast series to feature an African-American superhero as its lead. Netflix, of course, has Marvel drama Luke Cage premiering at the end of the month.

Black Lightning could potentially join the Fox's other DC Comics-inspired drama, Gotham, which centers on a young Bruce Wayne and features other characters from the Batman comics including Catwoman, Penguin and Poison Ivy. Fox also has sophomore drama Lucifer, which is based on a character from DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.

Fox's other projects this development season include Camelot, a re-imagining of the Arthurian legend as a police procedural; the Adam Scott-Craig Robinson comedy Ghosted; and a comedy centered on stand-up comedian Ms. Pat.

Berlanti is no stranger to the superhero genre. He also exec produces Arrow, The Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl, which all now air on The CW. In addition he has the Archie comics-inspired Riverdale slated to bow midseason on the network. Berlanti also has Criminal and Raised by Wolves at ABC.

Black Lightning is one of the first sales for the Akils under their new overall at Warner Bros. TV, the other being Documenting Love for ABC. Their credits include The Game and most recently Being Mary Jane.

Should Black Lightning be picked up, it would be the first broadcast series to feature an African-American superhero as its lead.

Greg Berlanti’s ‘Black Lightning’ Moves to CW With Pilot Pickup
FEBRUARY 3, 2017 | 11:31AM PT

“Black Lightning” has nabbed an official pilot order at the CW, Variety has learned.

The Greg Berlanti-produced series was originally was developed at Fox earlier this season, landing a hefty pilot production commitment from the get-go. Insiders tell Variety the network passed on the project earlier this week, so then it moved to the CW.

Should “Black Lightning” go to series, it would mark the fifth DC superhero show from Berlanti at the CW, which is currently home to “Arrow,” “The Flash,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” and Supergirl,” which have all been renewed for the 2017-2018 season.

If “Black Lightning” is greenlit for 2017-2018, sources close to the network explain that the shows would be staggered throughout the year, rather than scheduling five separate nights of superhero programming.

“Black Lightning” is the second Berlanti Productions series to move from another network to the CW. After “Supergirl’s” first season struggled to keep a big enough audience for CBS’ standards, the younger-skewing sister network picked it up for its sophomore season. While superhero programming may not be the best fit for the Big Four, the CW has had great success with its four series, including “Supergirl,” which is performing strongly in its second season at the CW, only behind the net’s top show, “The Flash.”

Back at the Television Critics Association press tour last summer, CW chief Mark Pedowitz was asked about the possibility of another superhero show. He said: “At the moment, we were only expecting to have four this season…At this time there’s no real discussions about any other superhero characters, but one of the things about the Arrowverse…we get to see all these characters. Now, if someone pops, then you reexamine the situation, but at this time, there are no discussions with anybody else.

Based on the DC character, “Black Lightning” is about 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.

The original comic character was created by Tony Isabella with Trevor Von Eeden. The TV pilot was written by Salim Akil and Mara Brock Akil, who will serve as executive producers with Berlanti and producing partner Sarah Schechter. Berlanti Prods. and Akil Prods. are producing with Warner Bros. Television.

Cress Williams Set as 'Black Lightning' for The CW's Greg Berlanti DC Drama

The CW has found its Black Lightning hero in a familiar face.

Hart of Dixie alum Cress Williams will return to the network with the starring role in Greg Berlanti's latest DC Comics drama Black Lightning, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The drama, originally developed at Fox but ordered to pilot at CW, revolves around Jefferson Pierce (Williams), who made a choice to hang up his 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.

The drama is based on the DC Character Black Lightning created by Tony Isabella with Trevor Von Eeden.

The Game duo Salim Akil and Mara Brock Akil will pen the script and exec produce the drama alongside Greg Berlanti and his Warner Bros. Television-based Berlanti Productions topper Sarah Schechter.

For Williams, repped by APA and manager Sinclair Jones, the role brings the actor back to The CW two years after Hart of Dixie wrapped its four-season run. His credits include Code Black, Friday Night Lights, Prison Break, ER, Close to Home and Nash Bridges. He becomes the latest star to take on an iconic DC Comics character for The CW and joins Stephen Amell (Arrow), Grant Gustin (The Flash) and Melissa Benoist (Supergirl), among others.

First Look at The CW’s New Superhero Series ‘Black Lightning’



The CW has revealed the first photo of “Black Lightning, the latest hero joining the network’s stable of super-powered crime-fighting shows.

The image shows Cress Williams (“Hart of Dixie,” “Friday Night Lights”) suited up as Jefferson Pierce, a.k.a Black Lightning, the hero soon to be joining the Berlanti family of superhero series, including “Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Legends of Tomorrow,” and “Supergirl.” The drama is currently shooting in Atlanta.

“Resurrecting him at a time in our society when a sense of hope is lacking … Black Lightning will be that hope,” executive producer Salim Akil said. “And in updating the suit, it will signal to a new generation that it’s time to harness and release our power, and become our own superheroes.”

The series will follow Pierce — now retired from his crime-fighting days — who’s pulled back into vigilante life as one daughter is hell-bent on justice and the other is being recruited by a local gang.

Black Lightning was created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden, and first appeared in the comic book “Black Lightning #1” in 1977. The character was the first African-American DC Comics hero to have his own standalone comic title.

“Comics were a great way for me to escape,” writer-director Akil added. “I was about 13 when ‘Black Lightning’ was created, and finally there was a black superhero that gave a damn about our neighborhood and our lives.”

The CW Announces 'Black Lightning' Premiere Date, Midseason Returns of Other 'Arrowverse' Shows

Black Lightning is on the way, and it finally has a premiere date!

On Thursday, The CW announced many of its premiere dates in 2018, including new DC series Black Lightning, which will debut on Tuesday, January 16 at 9 p.m. The Flash will return on the same night, with its midseason premiere airing at 8 p.m.

Legends of Tomorrow is currently following The Flash in the Tuesday lineup and Black Lightning seems to be taking its place. Not to worry, The CW is moving Legends to a new night that has yet to be determined. The fall finale of the team-up series will air on December 5.

Supergirl returns the day before The Flash, on January 15, Dynasty and Riverdale premiere on Wednesay, January 17, and Supernatural and Arrow return on January 18.

Freshman military drama Valor returns on New Years Day at 9 p.m., marking the first series on the network to debut in the new year. Four days later, on January 5, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend returns to the lineup.

For those wondering about the new Legends slot, the logical answer seems to be Monday nights at 9 p.m. following Supergirl. Valor is coming back a full two weeks earlier than the other shows, meaning it will conclude before everything else. Legends could slide in that slot once Valor concludes and provide a hefty one-two punch with Supergirl.

A 'Black Lightning' Primer With Creator Salim Akil

Black Lightning isn't here to expand the Arrow-verse. The CW's newest superhero series would rather change the world.

When creator and executive producer Salim Akil first brought the series to life, he didn't set out to introduce yet another comic book drama to cross over with Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow. When he decided to bring the inclusive, groundbreaking DC Comics entity Black Lightning to life, he wanted to tell real, grounded stories and to open viewers' minds and hearts to a community with which they may not be familiar. And sure, he wanted to throw some badass superpowers in there, too. But he was always cognizant of how, despite the recent wave of inclusive representation in the comic book genre with Netflix drama Luke Cage, Marvel feature Black Panther and the upcoming animated black Spider-Man, it has taken way too long for African-American viewers to see themselves as superheroes onscreen.

"This is a result of our history. We're what, one generation up out of Jim Crow?" Akil tells The Hollywood Reporter. "I think that people in America unfortunately or fortunately are just discovering different aspects of the humanity of African-American people. And so I think with that discovery comes, 'Oh, you could be a superhero, you could be president, or whatever it is that we thought you couldn't be.' Not too long ago, people didn't think that African-American men could be a quarterback in the NFL or coaches in the NBA. We laugh at that now but that's a result of the continuation of the discovery of the humanity of African-Americans."

Black Lightning stars Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce, aka the titular Black Lightning, a meta-human with the power to harness electricity. The midseason series begins more than a decade after Jefferson hung up his suit to focus on family and his job as a principal of a charter high school, considered a safe haven for young people in Freeland, a fictional neighborhood overrun by gang violence. No longer a vigilante superhero because of the stress it put on his marriage and family, he’s now considered a real-life hero to his community in the light of day. But he’s reluctantly pulled back into that dangerous life-or-death high-stakes world when his daughters, Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Jennifer (China Anne McClain), dealing with their own fledgling powers, get caught up with local gang The One Hundred.

While it may live on the same network as the Arrow-verse, Black Lightning will stand alone and not connect with producer Greg Berlanti's onscreen superhero universe. That way, Akil and his wife and producing partner, Mara Brock Akil, can keep Black Lightning more relatable and more accessible. And because of that, it won't be what comic book fans are expecting.

"Fans should understand that it is a journey. It's a marathon, not a sprint," Akil says of Black Lightning. "We're not going to have the villain of the week. We're going to explore our villains and our good guys and we're going to stew in that and really get to know them. I didn't want to do a show where the villains were twirling their mustaches. I wanted you to understand how and why they were the way they were. That will be a big difference from what you may be expecting."

Even the overall tone of the show is more gritty and realistic than one might expect from a superhero series. While the show is set in a fictional city, Akil modeled it after a New Orleans location.

"Right from the beginning you're immersed in a new world you probably have never been immersed in before," Akil says of the community. "I want you to dislike the things you should dislike. I want you to enjoy the things you should enjoy. You should never like to see someone get shot and I didn't want to do a show where violence was just a throwaway for a scene. I wanted to do a show [where] when violence happened, you felt it."

So when Jefferson gets shot, he doesn't just get up from that right away and keep fighting. "From [episode] one to two, you get to feel the emotional repercussions of violence, and that is what I really want people to take away from it," Akil says. "It's not clean."

Those who have read the Black Lightning comic books know that Jefferson's older daughter, Anissa, will eventually take on the mantle of Thunder when her own powers develop. But her coming-of-age story in the comics happens when she's still in school. When Black Lightning premieres, she's already graduated and teaches at her father's school.

"The great thing is what we get to see is her discover her powers, so we get to take that journey with her," Akil says of changing up Anissa's story. "What I wanted to do with her — and Jefferson — is I didn't want powers to be all positive. You know, you get powers and boom, you're great. I wanted to show the consequences of having powers."

When the series premiere begins, Anissa doesn't know she has powers and she doesn't know she comes from a lineage of meta-humans. So when weird things start happening with her inhuman strength, she freaks out.

"She just thinks it's the result of going through something traumatic," Akil says. "She thinks, 'I'm just having panic attacks but now it's fucking with my head. Is this real? Is it not real?' I wanted people to have that journey with her because that's how we all would feel. If you walked out of here now and you had a panic attack and hit the table and it broke, you'd be like, 'What the fuck just happened?' You wouldn't be like, 'Oh, I got these powers!'"

In addition to her growing abilities, Anissa's story will be emotionally powerful to many viewers because she's an out-and-proud lesbian. LGBTQ representation in superhero shows and movies is incredibly rare, so Akil is making sure to give her story its due for comic book fans who desperately need it.

"It's crazy, right?" Akil says of getting to show a lesbian superhero on primetime TV. "I didn't want it to be a 'very special episode.' We just open up on her in bed with her girlfriend and having a discussion not about her sexuality but about what are you going through? How are you feeling? I think it's one of the most sophisticated and loving scenes we've done in this show."

Akil is keeping her story revolutionary by not treating it like it's revolutionary. "I'll be honest with you, we rarely mention it," Akil says. "We just show it. It's not something I'm interested in mentioning, not because I don't want to mention it but because I'm able to show it."

He continues, "My mother, Betty, was an entertainer, she opened up for James Brown, Ike and Tina Turner, and I had an uncle who would work as a chef in a restaurant, 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4 — I was young so he could have been shorter, but in my mind that's how tall he was. And he would babysit me and come home, take off his cook uniform and get in his dress and cook me food and give me dating advice. I was like 5 so I've been blessed to have a really interesting life and this idea that it's anything other than natural to me is ridiculous. I don't have time for that bullshit."

Deep into filming the first season, Akil already knows how he wants the entire series to unfold. "Back to me saying it's a marathon and not a sprint, what we want to do, we start in the community," Akil says. "That's where most of our news reports start. Oakland, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Chicago. You name the city, it starts there. This community is violent, it's got drugs. But I wanted to start there and then start to expand. Where did this drug come from? How did these guns get into the community?"

Just as is true in real life, Akil wants to explore the ramifications of what's happening in urban communities. "These young black men and women aren't manufacturing guns, and they certainly aren't in labs manufacturing drugs," Akil says. "Where are they coming from? That's our goal: We're going to show where they come from. The series could easily be called Black Man's Paranoia, aka Salim's Paranoia, because I feel like a lot of this shit is just dumped into these communities because it can be. Like the opioid addiction, we know that pharmaceutical companies are just dumping that shit into these rural areas because these doctors are just writing scripts."

And if he gets his way, Black Lightning will only run for three seasons. "They're going to hate me for saying that," he says with a laugh. "But three [seasons]. Realistically, for me, I could get out what's inside me in that time."

Black Lightning premieres Tuesday, Jan. 16, at 9 p.m. on The CW.