The CW releases the first official Black Lightning trailer

Check out the first official trailer for The CW’s Black Lightning.

The CW has just released the first official trailer for Black Lightning. So far, the backstory and the hero’s mission seem to be very faithful to the source material—with one exception, he’s has done this before and is actually coming out of retirement.

Unlike other The CW DC universe shows (and, by the way, this one does not take place in the Arrowverse), this won’t be an origin story. Check out the exciting trailer:

Created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden, the character made his first appearance in Black Lightning #1 (April 1977). Jefferson Pierce is an Olympic decathlete and family man who returned home to Metropolis’s crime-ridden Suicide Slum to become a principal.

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After seeing a criminal organization called the 100 kill a promising student of his, Pierce dawned the Black Lightning costume and used his metahuman powers—of which he suppressed for years—to fight against them.

Black Lightning is currently in development from Mara Brock Akil, Salim, and Greg Berlanti—who is responsible for The CW’s current DC TV universe that’s comprised of Arrow, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl.

Next: Black Lightning gets a full season order

Berlanti and company currently have no plans to have the character or the series be part of the existing television universe. Well, that’s what they said about Supergirl. With that in mind, only time will tell.

As of this report, the first air date is unknown.