Black Lightning Lands Official Pilot Order at The CW

CBR

By Meagan Damore

Published Feb 3, 2017

If the show goes to series on The CW, it will join Greg Berlanti's other DC superhero properties, including The Flash, Arrow, and Supergirl.

The CW just snagged its fifth superhero property. Variety reports Greg Berlanti's "Black Lightning" just received an official pilot order from the network. According to the report, The CW will stagger their superhero programming throughout the year to avoid scheduling five straight nights of supehero series.

Written by the husband-and-wife duo of Salim and Mara Brock Aki, this "Black Lightning" pilot was initially developed for Fox. However, it was ultimately passed over, as Fox believed the show just wasn’t a good fit for their network. If the show goes to series on The CW, it will join Berlanti's other DC superhero properties, including "The Flash," "Arrow," "Supergirl" and "DC's Legends of Tomorrow."

Last night, rumors circulated that "Black Lightning" would jump networks, but the report did come as a bit of a surprise. After all, The CW head Mark Pedowitz seemed to indicate there were no plans to introduce yet another superhero to the network’s massive line-up during the TCAs.

Despite sharing a producer in Berlanti, Fox’s “Black Lightning” won't cross over with the Arrow-verse shows airing on The CW. In January, Berlanti said that if “Black Lightning” exists, he doubts the character will team up with any other heroes. “I don’t think so,” Berlanti said at the time. “If we’re lucky enough that that exists, that that show exists, I don’t think those worlds will cross over.” However, seeing as the pilot has just shifted from Fox to The CW, it's hard to rule anything out.

Berlanti will produce alongside Salim and Mara Brock Aki, who have worked on shows such as “The Game” and “Being Mary Jane.” According to an earlier report, the “Black Lightning” pilot episode is scheduled to film in March in New Orleans; however, "Black Lightning’s" filming schedule has not yet been confirmed.

The series will reportedly focus 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.”

Black Lightning was created in 1977 by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden. The hero was DC Comics’ first major African-American superhero and has served as a member of Batman’s Outsiders and the Justice League.