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 How about a little background?  quote:Black Lightning is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Tony Isabella and artist Trevor Von Eeden, first appearing in Black Lightning #1 (April 1977) during the Bronze Age of Comic Books. He is a member of a fictional subspecies of humans born with superhuman abilities known as metahumans in the DC Universe. Born Jefferson Pierce, he grew up in the disreputable Southside section of Metropolis known as Suicide Slum. Returning to his hometown after an extended leave due to tragedy, Pierce becomes the principal at Garfield High School. Having suppressed his abilities since adolescence, he adopts his new alias and persona to combat the criminals and corrupt leadership in the area while protecting his loved ones from harm. He is capable of electrical manipulation and generation. Black Lightning is DC Comics' first African American superheroes and the first to star in their own series for the DC imprint.  Black Lightning’s been through quite a few incarnations throughout his comic book publishing history and now he’s getting another makeover, this time as a live action tv series on the CW. Joining the ranks of already successful shows Arrow, Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning will set itself apart by existing in it’s own, unconnected universe. The series is being shot on location in Atlanta which will make it visually distinct from the existing shows that all shoot in Canada.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZpJeuXo2CY Debuting on Jan 16th, the official plot synopsis is as follows quote:Jefferson Pierce, who retired from his superhero persona Black Lightning nine years ago after seeing the effects it had on his family, is forced to become a vigilante again when the rise of the local gang The One Hundred leads to increased crime and corruption in his community.  Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce / Black Lightning: A retired superhero with the ability to harness and control electricity who becomes a principal at a charter high school. He returns to fighting crime thanks to his daughter and the threat of a star student being recruited by a local gang.  China Anne McClain as Jennifer Pierce: Jefferson's younger daughter who is "an independent, outspoken scholar-athlete with a wild streak of her own."  Nafessa Williams as Anissa Pierce: Jefferson's older daughter who is in medical school and teaches part-time at Jefferson's school.  Christine Adams as Lynn Pierce: Jefferson's ex-wife.  James Remar as Peter Gambi: Jefferson's oldest friend, who became a father figure and mentor to him, and works as his "tailor".[8]  Damon Gupton as Henderson: A veteran detective inspector with the police, who becomes an unlikely ally to Jefferson, despite his role in the community. Other cast includes: Marvin "Krondon" Jones III as Tobias Whale: A former politician who rose through the ranks of local government through corruption but was brought down by Alvin Pierce, Jefferson's father. After killing Alvin, Tobias was exiled, only to become the leader of The 100 gang. Kyanna Simone Simpson as Kiesha: Jennifer Pierce's best friend and the daughter of Henderson, who encourages Jennifer to challenge her perfect image. Edwina Findley as Tori Whale: Tobias Whale's younger sister. Chantal Thuy as Grace Choi: A bartender who becomes the love interest of Anissa. Early reviews for the show have been overwhelmingly good so far. I have very high hopes for this show as Cress Williams has been a delight in drat near everything I’ve seen him in. We’ve been extensively discussing the show over in the Flash thread, most recently the connections to Static/Static Shock and why every black hero seems to have electrical powers. Let’s continue those lines of discussion here. From the first trailer, it kind of reminds me of MANTIS and that's a good thing because MANTIS kicked rear end. I have very high hopes for this show.
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Jan 5, 2018 06:22
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I'm not super familiar with the character but I am looking forward to this. Maybe, since it's an entirely separate production from the other shows, they'll have writers who can, you know, create logical storylines and give the female characters consistent motivations.
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Jan 5, 2018 06:43
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Not being familiar with this my first reaction was, "Haha. Guy looks like a high school teacher, not a superhero." Then I read he is a high school teacher. You win this round, Black Lightning.
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Jan 5, 2018 07:14
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He has to face off against The 100? 
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Jan 5, 2018 09:03
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CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK posted:He has to face off against The 100? No man can stand against the might of Genghis Clarke.
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Jan 5, 2018 16:38
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Thunder's costume is bad even by CW standards. Hopefully the show will be worth watching.
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Jan 5, 2018 18:15
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Is there a reason why this show is separate from CWs other superhero shows?
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Jan 5, 2018 21:05
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I imagine they just want to avoid the baggage and they know that if a year from now they want to link them it will be no harder than Supergirl was. I'm kind of sad they're not because I'm a mark for the teamups and big world stuff, but I also guess I'm glad it can just do what it wants and not have to worry about the bigger picture and not being linked now doesn't mean it will never be.
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Jan 5, 2018 21:08
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Jose Oquendo posted:Is there a reason why this show is separate from CWs other superhero shows? The plot is that Black Lightning was an active super powered superhero a decade before the sow starts. It would be kind of awkard to try to explain why nobody on Arrow or the Flash ever mentioned that there was a lightning man running around a few years before they started doing superhero stuff
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Jan 5, 2018 21:09
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Eh, I don't think it would be really hard to handwave that there was a superhero in some other city on the other side of the country decades ago and most people dismissed it as urban legend. Or he could be in Supergirl's universe which has a vague extensive history of super powers. But that's all decision making, baggage, and stuff that if you state now you're locked into. The Arrowverse has already established the multiverse of 52 (+1) so you might as well just do your own thing and you can become Earth 36 later on if the decision makers really want to.
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Jan 5, 2018 21:12
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STAC Goat posted:Eh, I don't think it would be really hard to handwave that there was a superhero in some other city on the other side of the country decades ago and most people dismissed it as urban legend. Or he could be in Supergirl's universe which has a vague extensive history of super powers. Plus Barry has a thing for weird cases after his mom was killed, so in theory Barry could of seen something and didn't think anything of it until he gained powers.
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Jan 5, 2018 21:18
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It depends on what their world is establishing. If they're doing like Supergirl did and just kind of saying "yeah, heroes and villains are a thing and Black Lightning was one of them" then it wouldn't really mesh with Barry and Oliver's world but might with Kara's. If they're going with "Black Lightning was a guy who operated in the shadows" then you could easily work it into Barry and Oliver's world, with Oliver maybe having heard rumors and Barry having followed some story when he was a teen. But if you have no current intention to bring Barry, Oliver, or Kara into the show then you have no real reason to make any of those decisions up front. All it does is handcuff your creativity and you get nothing in return expect continuity questions like that you have to dance around.
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Jan 5, 2018 21:23
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Grace Choi? That's a slightly obscure choice, but might be interesting if she ends up actually being an Amazon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Choi
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Jan 5, 2018 22:46
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Xelkelvos posted:Grace Choi? That's a slightly obscure choice, but might be interesting if she ends up actually being an Amazon. They were both introduced in the Outsiders comic at the time and had a relationship in the same book so not really obscure. It's true to the source material!
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Jan 5, 2018 22:58
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But Black Lighting, I sell drugs to the community.
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Jan 6, 2018 01:22
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Jose Oquendo posted:Is there a reason why this show is separate from CWs other superhero shows? Fox was the one who initially ordered a pilot for the show but they passed so the CW picked it up. It got a rewrite in between but they still developed the show as if it wouldn't be connected.
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Jan 6, 2018 03:36
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Unless it tanks I really do assume it will just take the Supergirl path to the Arrowverse. Developed elsewhere -> Written to be separate -> Ends up on CW with the rest -> CROSSOVER SYNERGY NERD TEAMUP FUN! Someone will say "No, the show runners have said clearly that they don't intend to do that" and then I'll just remember that we had the same conversation about Supergirl so we just gotta wait and see.
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Jan 6, 2018 03:52
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I had the opportunity to read the original pilot script and it blew chunks. But it was also the first working draft, and I'm hoping a few of the plot points are ignored, reduced, or eliminated entirely.
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Jan 6, 2018 07:04
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Thank you for making this thread! Have a good early review! http://collider.com/black-lightning-review quote:Nothing about Black Lightning feels familiar. That’s a good thing. It’s on The CW, but it doesn’t look like any other CW show (and not only because it’s the network’s first series with a black lead). It’s a superhero show, but it puts characters first and the super-powered stuff second. It’s not an origin story about a 20-something getting powers, either; it’s about rebirth for a man old enough to be their father.
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Jan 7, 2018 00:28
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Really excited for this. Trailers didn't sell it a whole lot but I think it looks really interesting. Looking forward to Ollie and BL being "really just sick of all this poo poo" bros in the future.
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Jan 7, 2018 01:25
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As someone who is more embarrassed by watching the CWverse shows than my continued fixation with Supernatural in TYOOL 2018, I sincerely hope never the twain shall meet
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Jan 7, 2018 01:58
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The review makes me interested. It's definitely going into sensitive topics deeper than Supergirl has with is feminism stance. It may not be as intersectional as the current Black Lightning comic, but there's definitely going to be more than one controversial scene involving racial politics and policing.
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Jan 7, 2018 02:19
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I've wanted a black super hero lead tv show so badly since I was a kid, loved M.A.N.T.I.S so I hope this works, but it's too crushing to get my hopes up.
-Blackadder- fucked around with this message at 05:49 on Jan 7, 2018 |
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Jan 7, 2018 05:47
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Koalas March posted:Thank you for making this thread! I kind of expected you to beat me too it but I got inspired the other night.
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Jan 7, 2018 05:50
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Candice Patton talking about the blackness of the West family and Black Lightning:Candice "Iris Best" Patton posted:It’s a tricky thing…to discuss that kind of content. For me, as an actor, I would need to feel like I have Black writers and creators, kind of, carefully handling that topic. It’s also, it’s not, the show isn’t about the West family. It’s Barry Allen’s story…I’ve always wondered what was it like for Barry Allen growing up in a Black family? Like, you know what I mean? We joke about it all the time behind the scenes on the show. Like, this boy can probably dance. He probably loves my fried chicken. Those are the things I wish we could [do]… the lighter sides of a Black woman and white man dating. As far as the deeper issues about Black Lives Matter and police brutality, and what it’s like to be Black in this world, I think it’s hard on a show like The Flash where we’re really telling Barry Allen’s story, which is why I’m so so excited as a Black woman and as a fan of comics that Black Lightning is coming to the CW, and that Salim and Mara are at the helm to deal with those story lines. I think Black Lightning is in the best hands and that is important.   
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Jan 14, 2018 22:58
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Does he have electricity... in his pants?
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Jan 15, 2018 01:23
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achillesforever6 posted:Does he have electricity... in his pants? Don't you?
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Jan 15, 2018 02:25
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Oh my God, I love it already.
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Jan 17, 2018 03:03
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I like the daughters.
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Jan 17, 2018 03:28
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So this is in the Arrowverse?
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Jan 17, 2018 03:29
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Mooseontheloose posted:So this is in the Arrowverse? Nope. In the Filmed-in-Atlantaverse.
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Jan 17, 2018 03:30
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CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK posted:Nope. In the Filmed-in-Atlantaverse. But the tv report just said other cities have superheroes.
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Jan 17, 2018 03:31
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You know it's a CW show because they've got the keeping secrets part down already. 
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Jan 17, 2018 03:32
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I really like this guy.
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Jan 17, 2018 03:39
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I immediately love this show. It's got the campy blaxploitation thing down perfectly and i'm into it.
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Jan 17, 2018 04:05
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Gonna be a couple of hours over here, sounds like the verdict is "the trailers didn't let us down"?
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Jan 17, 2018 04:27
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Bruceski posted:Gonna be a couple of hours over here, sounds like the verdict is "the trailers didn't let us down"? The pilot was real good.
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Jan 17, 2018 04:51
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Great pilot IMO. I didn't know anything about the character coming in and didn't read anything. Thought it did a good job of setting up the world, and Black Lightning beat some loving rear end which I know won't happen every episode but that motel scene was really loving cool. Keep this up, CW.
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Jan 17, 2018 05:08
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What I took away from this episode: for the love of GOD give a brotha a chance to say something heroic Jumped on board on the ground floor and couldn't be happier.
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Jan 17, 2018 05:27
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Well, everything that said it was nothing like the previous CW hero shows was right. This is a completely new direction and its looking like a strong start.
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Jan 17, 2018 06:13
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