"Black Lightning" is one of the first major African-American superheroes to appear in DC Comics. It tells the story of gold medal-winning Olympic decathlete, Jefferson Pierce, who gave up his secret identity years ago, but who has to be pulled back into the fight as a wanted vigilante.
The Greg Berlanti-produced series was initially developed at Fox, and it even landed a hefty pilot production commitment from the get-go. However, recent news confirm that the network passed on the "Black Lightning" project, and so the series moved to The CW instead, Variety reported.
During the Television Critics Association press tour last summer, The CW chief Mark Pedowitz was asked about the possibility of having another superhero show and he said that the network is only expecting to four for the season and that no real discussions are happening about any other superhero characters, but he added that he is open to unforeseen opportunities.
Warner Bros. TV had to look for other networks after "Black Lightning" was turned down by Fox. It has been reported that the network decided against the series because the comic book show would not fit well among its full slate of drama shows, which includes a pilot for Matt Nix's upcoming "X-Men" series.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, this is Berlanti's fourth pilot order of the season and his second at The CW. The drama is written by Mara Brock Akil ("The Game") and her husband/producing partner, Salim Akil. The couple will also executive produce "Black Lightning" along with Berlanti and his Berlanti Productions topper Sarah Schechter.
While the focus of the series will be on Black Lightning himself, but he has younger daughters who are also main characters, and this is an area that would be likely explored further as the project is tweaked for The CW.
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