Black Lightning: Do we need a Painkiller spin-off?

The CW is eyeing a spin-off featuring the Black Lightning character, Painkiller. But we need to ask ourselves if the character needs to headline his own show.

The underrated gem of the Arrowverse/The CWVerse is Black Lightning. The first show to be led by a Black superhero—Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce/ Black Lightning—with a majority Black cast of main characters, it took a long while for the show to crossover to the main Arrowverse. And now, there’s talk of a spin-off.

Black Lightning star Jordan Calloway has been an intrinsic part of the series, starring as Khalil Payne who transforms into the villainous Painkiller. According to reports, Painkiller will star in his own backdoor pilot in the upcoming fourth season of the show, before headlining a spin-off series of his own.

There’s no arguing that The CWVerse could do with more diversity, especially in its leading characters. But do we need a spin-off with Painkiller?

Black Lightning spin-off: Who is Painkiller?

Calloway’s appearance on Black Lightning has been captivating from the get-go. His character Khalil Payne started off as the unsure romantic interest to Jennifer Pierce (China Anne McClain) in the first season before having to cope with a disability due to an errant bullet.

Khalil then joined a rehabilitation program that paved his way to becoming Painkiller, more a monster than a man. He was a killing machine programmed by Tobias Whale (Marvin ‘Krondon’ Jones III), and later Agent Odell (Bill Duke) of the ASA.

He attempted to heal from his past in the stupendous third season of the show, by locking Painkiller away in the recesses of his mind. The show had begun taking its first steps to tackle Painkiller’s mental illness.

Admittedly, Khalil’s mental battle with Painkiller was compelling, and an unfinished tale that we expect to see continue into the fourth season. And that’s precisely why a spin-off is a surprising development.

Black Lightning spin-off: Is Painkiller the right choice to lead?

According to TVLine, the Painkiller spin-off will follow the character in a new city, Akashic Valley, where he must confront the sins of his past, while meting out justice. He should be doing that in Freeland, alongside the Pierce family.

Black Lightning is built on the foundations of family, and Khalil has always felt like he would have been part of the Pierce family had circumstances not got in the way. Tearing Khalil away from the people most willing to support him doesn’t seem like the right step towards rehabilitating the character.

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One could also argue that we don’t need yet another show about the redemption of a former villain. Given the real world we live in, we should be celebrating the efforts of (mostly) morally relatable characters like Jefferson, Anissa Pierce/ Thunder/ Blackbird (Nafessa Williams), and Grace Choi (Chantal Thuy).

There has been much discussion about the silencing of Black women and now would be the time for a franchise like CWVerse to step up and give them a platform. When you already have nuanced characters like Anissa and Jennifer Pierce, it makes sense to give them a platform. Painkiller could very well continue to be a part of the story through Jennifer.

This is all assuming the spin-off airs at all. As many fans can attest to, there are other CW spin-offs that were promised but never came to fruition. The Supernatural spin-off show Wayward Sisters was never given a chance, and continuing teases about Arrow’s successor, Green Arrow and the Canaries, languish in fan’s dreams.

Jordan Calloway deserves a vehicle to shine. He has the charisma and the acting range. Any fan of superhero television is likely to tune in to a Painkiller spin-off. But his character may be better served when surrounded by powerful and just characters like the Pierces.

Black Lightning Season 4 airs on The CW on February 8.

What do you think? Should Painkiller break away from Black Lightning and lead his own show? Let us know in the comments.