(Photo: Bob Mahoney/The CW)
There’s a power outage in the Arrowverse. The CW has confirmed that the Black Lightning TV series will end with its upcoming fourth season. The final season kicks off on Monday, February 8th. It hasn’t been announced how many episodes have been ordered this time around but the past two seasons have had 16 installments each.
The Black Lightning TV show is based on DC Comics characters and stars Cress Williams, Christine Adams, China Ann McClain, Nafessa Williams, James Remar, Marvin Jones III, and Damon Gupton. In the series, Jefferson Pierce (Williams) is a former Olympic athlete, a respected educator, and a family man. He’s also Black Lightning, the superpowered protector of the city of Freeland who has the ability to sense and harness electricity. His daughters Anissa (Williams) and Jennifer (McClain) also have powers and superhero personas of their own. Lynn Stewart (Adams) is Jefferson’s ex-wife and an expert in metahuman medicine and they are still very much in love. Together, the Pierce family faces the challenges of a declined urban community, including infamous gangster, Tobias Whale (Jones III), and a menacing gang that calls itself The 100.
Though Black Lightning is on its way out, a Painkiller spin-off series, starring Jordan Calloway, is still a possibility. A backdoor pilot for the spin-off will air as part of Lightning’s fourth season.
Of the show’s coming to an end, Black Lightning showrunner Salim Akil said in a statement:
“When we first started the Black Lighting journey, I knew that Jefferson Pierce and his family of powerful Black women would be a unique addition to the superhero genre,” The love that Blerds and all comic book fans around the globe have shown this series over the past three seasons proved what we imagined: Black people want to see themselves in all their complexities.”
“Thank you to the phenomenal cast, writers, and crew without whom none of this would’ve been possible. I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve been able to do and the moments we’ve been able to create in bringing DC’s first African-American family of superheroes to life for the culture.”
“I’m very grateful to Peter Roth, Warner Bros. TV, Mark Pedowitz, The CW Network, and Greg Berlanti for their partnership and support of my vision at every step of this journey. While Season Four may be the end of one journey, I’m extremely excited to usher in a new chapter and continued collaboration with The CW as we tell the story of Painkiller.”
Supergirl is also ending this season so, that will leave Batwoman, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, DC’s Stargirl, and Superman & Lois as Arrowverse shows on The CW.
What do you think? Have you enjoyed watching the Black Lightning TV series? Are you sorry that there won’t be a fifth season of this show on The CW?