Black Lightning’ DC Superhero Series In Works From Greg Berlanti, Mara Brock Akil & Salim Akil
- Thread starter Enterprise is Great
- Start date
It occurs to me that if they decided to end Arrow, then BL could take its place as the dark'n'gritty show. Maybe some of the supporting cast could migrate over there, if it is set on Earth-1.
Anyway, if BL were in the Arrowverse, that would make it eight shows, because there's also Vixen, Freedom Fighters: The Ray, and Constantine.
The CW president said during the spring that he wouldn't put all the DC shows on at the same time. Unless he's changed his mind, I was assuming Legends would get a mid season break while BL was on.
I meant shows, that are running at the same time. If Arrow comes to an end, it's good to have a replacement. It would be cool to see the Arrow people in the other shows from time to time.
I have never watched Vixen and Constantine, I guess I will have to do that some day. Does Constantine have an open end? I know the guy was appearing in the others shows after his show got cancelled.
Freedom fighters: The Ray says nothing to me. I just googled it. Thanks for the tip.
@ cylkoth: Grazie molto. That sounds like a good idea.
^ Constantine the Series was only retroactively incorporated into the Arrowverse, but it's still worth watching.
I think it's premature and presumptive to assume that Black Lightning's timeslot means anything as far as possible connections to the Arrowverse go, but it's nice that The CW is giving the show an established 'lead in'.
I think it's premature and presumptive to assume that Black Lightning's timeslot means anything as far as possible connections to the Arrowverse go, but it's nice that The CW is giving the show an established 'lead in'.
The NBC season did have a bit of a cliffhanger ending, and the whole season had an arc about a "Rising Darkness" that Constantine would have to face in the future. But whether we'll ever see that followed up on remains to be seen. Constantine is showing up on Legends of Tomorrow soon, so maybe there will be some quick handwave about Mallus being the Rising Darkness, but I doubt there will be any direct references there or in the upcoming Constantine animated webseries.
The Ray will be debuting in the "Crisis on Earth-X" crossover between the four Arrowverse shows on November 27-8.
I was referring to the upcoming animated revival, though of course the NBC series does technically count too.
I never said I was "assuming" it, just that one might be tempted to speculate.
Given that it's been unequivocally stated by Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle that the events of the NBC Constantine series are Canon to the character's appearance in Arrow (and, by extension, his upcoming appearances on Legends - and his forthcoming animated series - as well), there's no need for qualifiers when talking about it.
I'm curious about Black Lightning. I'm not as instantly sold on the look of the show. More accurately the actor in the costume. I know deviations occur and accounting for that I just hope it works.
If I understand it Jefferson is pulling a 'Dark Knight' narrative, coming out of retirement and he's not as svelte and lean as he used to be.
If I understand it Jefferson is pulling a 'Dark Knight' narrative, coming out of retirement and he's not as svelte and lean as he used to be.
If that's the case maybe (depending on how many shows if any are renewed for next year) the basis for next year's four(five?)way crossover could be resolving that cliffhanger with the various teams coming together to help Constantine.
I think that's unlikely. For one thing, while the producers may have free rein to use any pre-existing DC/Vertigo characters used in the NBC show, they might prefer to avoid using characters and story threads created for the show, such as Manny the angel, because then they'd have to pay royalties to the writers who created those characters etc. Also, a lot of the CW shows' audience may not have seen the NBC series, so doing a story too dependent on its continuity could be confusing. And the actors from the original show might not be available to return.
If the Arrowverse producers had the intention of reviving storylines from the NBC show, the animated Constantine webseries is where we'd be most likely to see it happen. But from what we've seen and heard about that webseries, it doesn't seem to be using any characters from the live-action show except Constantine himself, and its story seems to be going in a more action-oriented, monster-heavy direction, more in line with the Justice League Dark animated movie (which was set in the New 52-based DVD-movie continuity, but had both Matt Ryan and Jeremy Davies reprising their roles from the NBC show).
I also don't think the Arrowverse will ever take it upon itself to directly tie up loose ends from the NBC Constantine series; having said that, though, I don't think the producers of that shared continuity will do anything to actively or drastically violate or contradict its events, either, unless there's pressing story justification for doing so.
I never suggested they would contradict it, so I don't know why you bring it up. Of course their intent is for it to be nominally in continuity, but there may be practical reasons why they can't fully embrace every element of it. Although it would be nice if they could. I'd love to see Angelica Celaya return as Zed, and I'd like to see some closure of the series' dangling threads.
I'm think if we get anything it would probably be a couple quick references to the fates of major characters like Zed, Chas or Manny, and maybe something about the Rising Darkness. I can't see any of it actually be major plot points, and it would have to be done in a way that doesn't confuse people who haven't see the series.
Like I said, I wouldn't be surprised if Mallus from LoT were mentioned as the Rising Darkness, given that Constantine is doing a 2-part appearance in LoT soon. But then, a couple of years ago I was wondering if it'd turn out to be Damien Darhk.
Anyway, isn't this the Black Lightning thread? I wish we had more stuff about that show to discuss, like an actual trailer.
Yeah after watching last night's LOT episode - I'm up to episode 5 - that's the impression I got, not that I've seen Constantine yet so I don't know what was going on, it's hard to come by on Blu-Ray/DVD here in the UK unlike the 'other' Arrowverse shows.
Sorry about that
.
Ironic, since the character is a Brit.
Maybe it's to counter balance all the times people have been called "son of a b****" -- it's really the daddy's fault, not the mom's ?
But, I actually agree that the death of a student could be a powerful and more original way of prompting him to start a superhero career.
The city is named Freeland now? Last I read it was going to be in Los Angeles. I can understand the benefits of a fictional city but that does not sound like a city name to me. EDIT I looked up that name and turns out there are a number of small towns named that... shows what I know
That's true... definitely could feel a bit more like Arrow. But if we did a Venn Diagram, I wonder if they are thinking that the subset of people watching Flash who then also watch Arrow is bigger than the subset of those who watch Arrow who also watch FLash (and those who only watch one or the other is much smaller).
And also I think Christopher is right about lawsuits...the crazy corruption of Gotham (I..e. current TV show)...don't see how a real city would not make a big stink if they were portrayed that way.
I wonder if they will make Freeland like TV STar City...where the "inner city" and "poor" are more diverse than they actually are in real life American cities...or will they be able to handle an honest portrayal of 2017 AMerican race relations.
I thought you were not keen on BL being in the Arrowverse? But I hope your speculation is correct -- it would be great to build up this universe so it grows into something akin to the DC Comics universe (and has the big comic feel the way the MCU feels today)
The thing is, Christopher is like Guy Gardner, where some things he posts are really insightful, while other things make me say "what the...?" And I think it would be helpful for this community to grow in diversity. His comment about why seemed very... "white liberal". It ignores the fact the most frequent last names for African Americans come from "slave names". It might have made more sense (and felt less racially ignorant) if he wondered why Jefferson Pierce had two last names, where it sounds a little weird like a character named "Jones Smith" or "Williams Johnson".
Just because an occasional post seems off, or worse, these seems/"is" wrong, is no reason to immediately delete/ignore them. It's that kind of self-segregation that has bred the polarization in the United States.
This is the TrekBBS, and I would expect IDIC to be an ideal we strive for, and not just pop out when we feel comfortable.
The CW has put up a new, longer trailer for the show. Looks pretty good, except there's something about the lead actor's line delivery I'm not too sure about sometimes. I'm hoping it plays differently in sustained scenes than these isolated sound bites.
In other news, TVLine's Matt Webb Mitovich has apparently seen the show, and proclaims it "terrific" (enthusiastic italics his) in the comments to this article.
In other news, TVLine's Matt Webb Mitovich has apparently seen the show, and proclaims it "terrific" (enthusiastic italics his) in the comments to this article.
If anybody's interested 
, here's another new trailer.
, here's another new trailer.