Get your first look at Cress Williams as Black Lightning

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The CW's stable of superhero shows keeps growing and we've got our first look at the title character in the latest series to join the ranks: Black Lightning. Armed with the ability to generate and manipulate electricity, Jefferson Pierce had long ago hung up his suit and secret identity, but "with one daughter hell-bent on justice and the other 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." Production on the Black Lightning pilot is currently underway in Atlanta and The CW have released the first image of Cress Williams (Prison Break) suited up as Black Lightning.

Executive producer Sam Akil, who is also directing the pilot from a script he wrote, commented on resurrecting the character at a time when "a sense of hope" has been lacking.

I knew way too much about the world as a young boy growing up in Richmond, California. I was no stranger to violence, death, hopelessness or the feeling that no one cared about what was happening in my life. Comics were a great way for me to escape. I was about 13 when Black Lightning was created, and finally there was a Black Super Hero that gave a damn about our neighborhood and our lives. Resurrecting him at a time in our society when a sense of hope is lacking…Black Lightning will be that hope. 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 Super Heroes.

Greg Berlanti is also onboard as an executive producer, and although Black Lightning will be joining Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and DC's Legends of Tomorrow on The CW, it will not be a part of Greg Berlanti's "Arrow-verse," at least, not yet. Back in January Berlanti had said that he didn't think those worlds would cross over, but as the series was set up at Fox at the time he said that, it's probably wise not to rule anything out at this stage.

What are your thoughts on Black Lightning's new suit?