DC’s Black Lightning to Star in New TV Series From Greg Berlanti, Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil

Over the past couple years, DC Entertainment has significantly increased its live action television portfolio. The company has Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow on The CW, while Fox is airing Gotham and Lucifer. NBC will premiere Powerless in the midseason. And that’s not even counting Vertigo titles like Preacher and iZombie.

Now, yet another DC Comics character is coming to the small screen. According to Deadline, Warner Bros. TV is developing Black Lightning, based on the superhero of the same name. The project is being developed by Greg Berlanti, who is involved with all four of The CW’s DC shows. He is working with Being Mary Jane creator Mara Brock Akil and her husband, Salim Akil. The Akils are writing Black Lightning. All three are executive producing along with Sarah Schechter.

While Berlanti’s other DC shows are at The CW, Black Lightning is being shopped around at multiple networks. Apparently, the potential series has been in development for more than a year, going through many different iterations. This has allowed the team to perfect their take on the character.

Black Lightning will focus on Jefferson Pierce, who “…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.” The character, who was created in 1977, was one of DC’s first major African-American superheroes.

This series will mark Black Lightning’s first live action appearance. The character has made appearances in various animated movies and TV shows, including Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and Young Justice.

Stay tuned for more news on this potential show as we have it.