Black Lightning Finale Misfire

The era of the televised black superhero television series has come to an end, or at least for now, it has with the series finale of the CW's Black Lightning. After four seasons, the Pierce family is saying goodbye, and with news of the Painkiller series not being picked up this will perhaps be the last time we see the full cast together. Complete series finales are always a hit and miss, and unfortunately, the Black Lightning finale was a miss. For every the Wire and Golden Girls, there’s a Lost or Game of Thrones and the CW show follows the latter. There’s a lot to look into when considering what lead to the ending of the series. If not the leaving and recasting of a day one series regular, and a loyal fan base, the only thing that could have derailed the momentum of the show is the CW network itself, and its lack of interest. 

Black Lightning premiered at a time when the Black male superhero was in high demand. The character Black Panther stole the show in Captain America Civil War and was on the way to having the highest-grossing film for marvel at the time, and Luke Cage was receiving rave reviews for its debut season on Netflix. Even minor characters were being featured in shows such as Runaways, the Flash, and Arrow. Black superheroes were everywhere once, but despite the critical reception at the time black superheroes are now scarce when it comes to television. Luke Cage was canceled after two seasons, and the world suffered the loss of Chadwick Boseman changing the entire direction of the Black Panther Franchise. Even minor black superheroes such as Kid Flash, and Vixen, from Flash and Arrow, have been shelved, and with the cancellation of Black Lightning, Batwoman is officially the only series airing featuring a predominant black superhero. (More on the future of the black female superheroes to come.)

The network seems to have lost faith in the future of the series, and black male superheroes altogether. While the series attempts to tie all threads together nicely, the finale suffers from having too much too soon. As Charles Pullium-Moore pointed out in his piece the hour alone isn’t enough time to service and send off each character successfully, and many major points feel packed and rushed to fit into the finale. And while the finale attempts to plant seeds of the future, news of the Pain Killer series not being picked up diminishes any hope of seeing the heroes in the future.

With this said, Black Lightning definitely deserves its flowers. The series set a precedent for incorporating real-life issues into its storylines, beyond the go-to trauma story of near-death encounters between police and African American characters. Throughout the seasons the series touched on gentrification, the school to prison pipeline, illegal health experimentations, inner-city gang violence helping to keep the series grounded in a sense of reality missing from most of its CW peers. The villains were just as captivating as the series heroes, and no hero was above being believably flawed. And while the show originally played into the trend of capitalizing off the popularity of the black superhero the series was also the first series to showcase black female superheroes predominately. Unfortunately, for all the good the series has presented the finale definitely tarnishes its legacy. 

What do you think? Are you glad the series has ended? 

Arrowverse Forever

The CW network recently released the sizzle trailer for the upcoming season of its superhero shows adopted from DC comics. Dubbed the “Arrowverse” after its flagship series Arrow premiered in 2012 and successfully opened the door for spin-off shows such as The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, and Batwoman. For years the series remained the anchor of the network but with the release of the newest trailer, the network has implied it wants to move away from the name since Arrow has ended its 8 season run.

It is slightly understandable that the network would want to look to the bright future of the returning and new series the network offers (looking at you Superman and Lois), however, the legacy that is Arrow doesn’t have to be erased to accomplish this, especially after the years of waiting fans endured just for the characters to exist in one collective universe. Between the shutdown of filming for shows last season due to COVID-19 concerns and the forced rework to shows such as Flash and Batwoman, one would think the network would want to keep things as normal as possible for faithful fans. However, changes such as these could be the catalyst for the network ready to embrace change. 

While acknowledging the impact of Arrow as the springboard for the world of superheroes the trailer wraps with a reminder that the network is slowing down anytime soon. Which do you prefer CWverse or Arrowverse?

Building the Lightningverse

Black Lightning, the CW's latest superhero feature and first featuring an African American as the lead, has impressed fans and critics alike since its premiere and will officially return for a second season October 9th on the CW. While it was previously stated that Black Lightning isn't set in the primary Arrowverse, thanks to its filming in Atlanta instead of Vancouver like the other shows, however with the name dropping of heroes like Supergirl and Vixen, fans were teased early on and at least given an idea of at least what Earth the series takes place on. Now thanks to the upcoming crossover event we can expect the Black Lightning cast to finally be integrated into the full Arrowverse, along with the introduction of Batwoman.

While the Arrowverse has done a great job of blending its many heroes in episodes and crossover events they don't primarily deal with the issues Black Lightning has touched thus far. That being said, maybe it's time for a new universe of heroes with Black Lightning as its anchor and here are just a few heroes who will fit perfectly into the series.

1. Static (Virgil Hawkins) 
Probably the most expected, and anticipated, addition fans want to see and who can effectively expand the universe is Static. When news of a new CW potential first emerged many hoped it would be Static as the titular hero, however, there's no reason the two can't share the screen together. Hosting the same powers of Black Lightning, it would be interesting to see the two team up, with Static as a potential protege. 

2. Bumblebee (Karen Beecher) 
After successfully navigating Thunder's origin and highlighting her growth as a hero, season two has the potential to add more female heroes to an over much-lagging roster. Bumblebee would be a perfect addition to the series, as she would not only easily fits in the same age group as Lightning's daughters but also would be a brilliant creative addition thanks to her shrinking capabilities and scientific intelligence. While a perfect fit for the series, between the upcoming live-action Teen Titans and the Hasbro lawsuit, chances of seeing the heroine on screen, remains minimal.
3. Aqualad (Kaldur'ahm) 
Even if Aquaman is off limits for television hopefully referencing Atlantis, even if only in name, is a great way for the series to set up an Aqualad appearance. Like Bumblebee and Static he fits the age group for rising heroes appropriate for the show, but like Bumblebee Aqualad too may be under restriction for use in Teen Titans.

4. Batwing (Luke Fox)
A member of the Bat-family who has yet to receive any mainstream attention, it's because of this that Batwing can be a great addition to extend the Black Lightning universe. Even if Batman remains off limits, given the time frame of the universe using Luke also fits the age group for the series exploring young heroes.

5. Batman (Bruce Wayne) 
Two longtime comic collaborators, while none of the Arrowverse series have yet to be able to feature the dark knight, the surprising Supergirl name drop in Black Lightning opened it to the realm of possibilities. Due to Arrow writers blurring the lines between the show and Batman, featuring the hero on another earth is the easiest and safest route for sake of continuity. Batman would easily fit into the more grounded reality of Black Lightning as compared to shows like Flash and Supergirl. 

6. Black Vulcan
While the history involving both Black Lightning and Vulcan is slightly convoluted, as the latter essentially would not exist without the former. Thanks to a dispute between Black Lightning's creator and DC, the character was not authorized to be used for the DC comic inspired animated series The All New Superfriends. Because of this, and the need for a Black character led to the "creation" of Vulcan exclusively for the series. While I see this being played on a more comedic note, and is a biggest long shot of them all, seeing the two onscreen together would be priceless. 

Although Black Lightning has only begun to test the waters of delving into its own mythos adding in a few more dynamic characters won't hurt, and with the big crossover event coming this fall, there's no telling what the writes may have in store for viewers. Hopefully, as the series continues fans will get to see the Black Lightning universe expand to begin introducing new heroes to share the screen with. Whether it's for short-term story arcs or laying the groundwork for future series or appearances, introducing heroes like Black Canary, Firestorm, Vixen, and even the Flash have only helped to increase viewership and benefit the Arrowverse as a whole, and the same can be done for Black Lightning.

Year of the Black Superhero

2018 is shaping up to be another monumental year for readers of comics and fans of its televised and cinematic counterparts. This is especially true in the instance of Black characters. After 10 years ( 17 marvel films, 5 DC films) African American comic characters and superheroes are finally being brought to the forefront and leading their own films and series. Thanks to the critical success of the Netflix series Luke Cage, the Marvel execs may have finally realized that they can draw in Black viewers without the act of race bending characters in an effort to reflect "diversity" (i.e. raise ticket sales) and as a result 2018 will be the biggest year for African American superheroes to date.

Marvel is pushing fufther into its 'diversity' frontier preparing for the company's first feature starring an African American male as the lead with 2018's Black Panther. Completely stealing the show in Captain America: Civil war, Chadwick Bossman' s Black Panther is one of the most recognized and beloved Avergers surpassing Stark's technology, Banner's intellect, Thor's honor, and Roger's leadership. Premiering in February, the movie will follow his return to Wakanda, as he deals with the aftermath of the death of his father and his own ascension to the throne.

While it's no surprise that Luke Cage will return to Netflix with a second season next year, it isn't the only streaming service getting in on comic adaptations with Hulu also throwing its hat into the ring this November. The adaptation of the Marvel comic The Runaways will feature African American team leader Alex Wilder, a genius who learns that his parents are actually super villains.

And on the small screen things are growing even bigger for the CW as the network prepares for the premier of its new series Black lightning, based on the DC character, which will feature television's first primetime black superhero family. (http://unorthodoxwisdom.blogspot.com/2017/10/blacklightning-and-first-black.html?m=1)

Although there continues to be a lack of Black female super characters on television and film, this list will also grow with the inclusion of Black Lightning's daughters Thunder and Lightning, while The Legends of Tomorrow continues to brilliantly highlight the DC character Vixen, and Luke Cage will transition Misty Knight towards her heroic calling.

With each of these shows 2018 will be the year with the most black superheroes in movies and television, and if this is any indication of what's to come in the future then we are in for a spectacular ride. (Honorable mention to Arrow's John Diggle and Mr. Terrific, Guardian from Supergirl and the Flash's Wally West).

Black Lightning and the First Black Superhero Family

DC comics latest live-action series, Black-lightning, is set to debut next year and will finally deliver audiences an African American super hero family.

The hero debuted in his own issue in 1977, running 12 issues, before being canceled. Despite this, his popularity persisted leading to a number of team mashups, affiliations, and reincarnation series in the years to follow. Now the hero is headlining his own television series. Real name Jefferson Pierce, Black Lightning's power of spontaneously producing electricity from his body allows him to manipulate it to grant him flight and create force fields. 

Of course, what makes Jefferson so special isn't his powers but his family. Eventually, Jefferson decides to give up crime fighting to raise his two super-powered daughters Anissa and Jennifer who would grow up to become the heroes Thunder and  Lightning. Lightning takes after her father in having the ability to control lightning, but she also has the power to transform into lightning itself. Thunders' power allows her to alter her density at will, and she can send shockwaves through the ground by stomping. It should be noted that in the comics the girls don't become active heroes until after graduating college, so expect the television series to deal with their ages differently.

While it doesn't seem like a milestone even in this age of comic-inspired movies and television seeing a family of superheroes is a rarity. The former includes the Incredibles and Sky High, both featuring Caucasian families, and products of Disney. The only other preexisting African American superfamily is from the Disney channel original movie Up, Up, and Away (2000). A previous attempt at a tv series following a family with powers aired on ABC for 1 season in 2010, but that family too was not of color.

While hopes were, and still are, high for a series crossover between Black Lightning and the major Arrow-verse series chances remain slim as unlike the others Black Lightning is being filmed in Atlanta, therefore now it remains separate from the established shared universe. However, Supergirl also went through its premier season without being a part of a the Arrowverse, so there's still hoping if the pilot and season do well.

Black Lightning premiers 2018 on the CW.