Jefferson Pierce will be joining the heroes of the Arrowverse for the upcoming crossover, Crisis on Infinite Earths. However, Black Lightning's (Cress Williams) inclusion was not set from the start.
The decision to bring him in happened“very late in the game,” according to crossover executive producer Marc Guggenheim. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Guggenheim explained that the vast distance between Vancouver (where the Arrowverse shows are shot) and Black Lightning's Atlanta-based production created quite the obstacle for getting Cress Williams involved. However, despite the pitfalls in their path, Guggenheim and Black Lightning showrunner Salim Akil worked together to bring Jefferson Pierce into the crossover.
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“Once we did that, it felt like we had elevated the crossover to another level,” said Guggenheim. “Black Lightning’s in it much more than we ever anticipated, and he’s in it in a very significant way. That’s something we worked very closely with the team at Black Lightning because the attitude among all of us, but I don’t want to speak for Black Lightning folks, was if we’re going to bring Black Lightning into the crossover, it can’t just be for a cameo. It has to be in a way that feels significant while still of course dealing with our time and space limitations.”
Williams had quite the time during his week-long work on the Crisis set, expressing interest in teaming up more often with his fellow CW heroes. “I hope it’s not a one-off thing. [Actors] wanted to come to Freeland, and I definitely wanted to come back to them,” he said.
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" begins Sunday, Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Supergirl, then continues in Batwoman on Monday, Dec. 9 at 8 p.m. ET/PT and in The Flash on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. After the winter hiatus, the crossover will conclude on Tuesday, Jan. 14 in Arrow at 8 p.m. ET/PT and in DC's Legends of Tomorrow at 9 p.m. ET/PT.