Black Lightning’ DC Superhero Series In Works From Greg Berlanti, Mara Brock Akil & Salim Akil

When FOX decided to pass on ordering a pilot. The same thing happened with Riverdale.

 

Nafessa Williams & China Anne McClain cast as Black Lightning's daughters

 

Christine Adams Cast As Black Lightning's ex-wife Lynn

 

first look at Black Lightning's costume

It looks somewhat like The Atom suit

 

Between Iron Fist and this, are we seeing a trend for superhero actors wearing beards despite their characters traditionally being clean-shaven? Ironic, then, that Stephen Amell still refuses to grow a goatee...

 

I wonder if that has any bearing on which universe it's going to be set on?

 

That suit is a lot more high tech armor that I was expecting. I was expecting more of just a plain leathery suit like the Flash suit.

Could it be that the actor just has a beard and didn't want to shave, rather than the producers specifically wanting the character to have a beard?

 

Doubtful. Colleen Atwood designed both the Flash and Supergirl costumes, and they therefore have some design similarities (like the seam highlights, V-shaped belts, and thumb-stirrup things on the sleeves), but they're still in different universes.

That's basically what I meant. There doesn't seem to be any pressure for the actors to shave to look more like the comics characters.

I can't think of that many classic superheroes with facial hair, really. Green Arrow, Dr. Strange, Bishop, Warlord, I guess Tony Stark, Ultimate/MCU Nick Fury, Marvel's Hercules, maybe a few others. There are Wolverine's sideburns. Oh, and Doctor Strange's mu. There have been times when Thor, Aquaman, the Punisher, and others have had beards, but not as their default looks. Facial hair is typically more the province of villains like Sinestro and Baron Mordo or supporting characters like Commissioner Gordon, Alfred, Dum-Dum Dugan, and J. Jonah Jameson.

 

I never noticed that before, but you're right there really aren't many superheroes with facial hair.

 

I'm wondering if the beard also connotes Jefferson Pierce's age. From what I've read Pierce is supposed to be a retired hero, so perhaps the beard helps him look a bit older. He might shave it off if/as the show progresses. I do like the suit and I'm very interested to see this show.

 

Your post gave me another thought, with stories like this we do tend to see the retired hero grow a beard, and then they shave it off during the big suiting back up scene. Maybe that'll be the case here.

 

The fact that they showed him bearded and in full costume as the first official image of the character argues against that.

I think it's just that thick stubble or a short beard has become the fashionable thing for men these days. Even Batman has stubble in the movies. And the main character in the 12 Monkeys TV series refuses to shave off his stubble even when he spends months living in the past, which is ridiculous, since that look would never have been considered socially acceptable in the era in question.

 

And Bruce Wayne has a full-on beard in the films though I think that's more Ben Affleck liking beards.

 

IMO - Kinda reminds me of the suit they gave Hancock at the end of that film.

 

Black Lightning ordered to series

 

Not shocking news (pardon the pun), but good news.

 

The only Black Lightning thing i've read is his Final Crisis issue, and maybe if he's ever been on the Justice League (was he in Meltzer's run?).

Could be a fun show, but as far as lesser known DC black guy superheroes go, Mister Terrific has a cooler look.

 

The trailer is here:



The series will air mid season.

 

Yeah but apparently its not part of the 'Arrowverse' . That said I thought this quote was very intersting in the story:
http://www.superherohype.com/news/397373-black-lightning-is-not-part-of-the-cws-arrowverse#/slide/1
“We do not aim to do a five-way crossover. Black Lightning, at this time, is not part of the Arrowverse. It is a separate situation. But there will be a big fourth quarter crossover with all four of the shows that are on in the fall.”

By the way I underlined and italicised the 'at this time' part of the quote as that suggests wiggle room. I'm just wondering does that mean it's simply not set on either Earths-1 & 38 or that it is set in a part of the DC Multiverse the CW can't crosssover with?

 

Most likely, it mainly just means they want to establish it as its own entity and tell their own stories before they start thinking about crossovers. It's not about what they can or can't do, it's about what best serves the show they're making and the stories they want to tell. The executive was probably talking about "the Arrowverse" as a shared and interconnected storytelling venue, rather than a parallel physical reality. He's just saying that, for now, BL will tell its own separate stories, regardless of any larger cosmological considerations. Whether it crosses over later on is for the producers to decide based on what stories they want to tell.

Anyway, it seems to indicate that Black Lightning was known as a public superhero ("hope personified") in 2005, which means it probably isn't on Earth-1, since the existence of superpowers was not widely known there until around 2014. It doesn't rule out Earth-38, since we know Superman was operating openly when Kara arrived around 2004. But it sounds like they're probably approaching it as its own reality.