With The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Greg Berlanti has built up a pretty big interconnected superhero universe, now all housed at The CW (which has played no small part in that network suddenly becoming, pound for pound, perhaps the most critically successful in current network television). He’s also heading up the new Archie adaptation, Riverdale, also airing there. Not bad for a guy who almost ended up directing the box office bomb, Green Lantern.
Now, Deadline has heard that he’s at work on his sixth comic-based series, teaming up with The Game and Being Mary Jane creator Mara Brock Akil and her husband, Salim Akil, to develop a small-screen version of Black Lightning that is currently being pitched to networks.
The series, which will be written by the Akils, is described in the report thusly:
Black Lightning centers on 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.
If picked up, a Black Lightning series will join Netflix and Marvel’s Luke Cage as superhero series that are headlined by African-American superheroes, which is an exciting development. Though perhaps, even better, this sort of high profile debut will hopefully serve to benefit both Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden, who co-created the character in 1977.
Good for Black Lightning creator, Tony Isabella! From what I’ve read, it seems like he’s ironed out a deal with DC and is now receiving proper credit and compensation for his creation. I hope this means he also gets some of the rewards from this project!
For diversity sake, are any actors sans color being considered for the role?
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