Black Lightning strikes in the first trailer for CW’s newest superhero show

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

There's a storm coming, as it's been announced that BLACK LIGHTNING is set to debut as a part of The CW's midseason slate. As we'd already learned a ways back, the character will not be a participant as a member of the CW's Arrowverse, but will instead act as a stand-alone series with the intent of establishing its own fanbase and world-building potential. 

Today, we've got a groovy debut trailer for BLACK LIGHTNING that has the show looking like its packed with high energy and heart. You can check it out by watching the video posted below:

If talk of BLACK LIGHTNING has escaped your superhero radar over these past few months, here's a refresher as to what you can expect when the show premieres next year:

Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) is a man wrestling with a secret. As the father of two daughters and principal of a charter high school that also serves as a safe haven for young people in a New Orleans neighborhood overrun by gang violence, he is a hero to his community. Nine years ago, Pierce was a hero of a different sort. Gifted with the superhuman power to harness and control electricity, he used those powers to keep his hometown streets safe as the masked vigilante Black Lightning.

However, after too many nights with his life on the line, and seeing the effects of the damage and loss that his alter ego was inflicting on his family, he left his Super Hero days behind and settled into being a principal and a dad. Choosing to help his city without using his superpowers, he watched his daughters Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Jennifer (China Anne McClain) grow into strong young women, even though his marriage to their mother, Lynn (Christine Adams), suffered. Almost a decade later, Pierce’s crime-fighting days are long behind him…or so he thought. But with crime and corruption spreading like wildfire, and those he cares about in the crosshairs of the menacing local gang The One Hundred, Black Lightning returns — to save not only his family, but also the soul of his community.

I've seen some lukewarm reactions to BLACK LIGHTNING over the past few months, but I can tell you with absolute confidence that I'll be checking this show out. In addition to applauding the CW's efforts to include a hero of color in a lead role, I'm digging the overall tone of the trailer as well as the soundtrack that, for me, drives the action and narrative forward in a compelling manner. With any luck, lightning will strike the ratings for this program and we'll get the chance to see BLACK LIGHTNING take the CW by storm.