Black Lightning - The newest DC superhero series in the check
Black Lightning - The newest DC superhero series in the check
A brave school director leads a double life as a superhero
in Black Lightning, the new series from the universe around The Flash and
Arrow, which will be released today at Netflix in Germany.
The voice of Nina Simone echoes through the first few
minutes of Black Lightning. From the blood on the leaves, the blood in the
roots, she sings in the cover of the Lynching protest song Strange Fruit, which
anchors the new superhero series from The CW in a matter of seconds in reality.
As a mission statement we can understand it too. Although Black Lightning has
been stinging broadcasting through the neighborhood of The Flash, Arrow and
Legends of Tomorrow, the series is much more open to US reality. The protests
of Ferguson are visually paraphrased, our hero in a smart suit and family
suitcase stopped by the police - the skin color alone makes him suspicious for
the white cops. Not only that, the lightning-shooting Black Lightning in the
first episode is recommended as a valuable extension of the DC adventure on
television.
At the same time, Black Lightning will not be presented as a
spin-off of the Arrowverse, which is why there is plenty of scope for designing
this new series world. There are vague references to the existence of
superheroes in other cities, but nothing more. You do not have to worry about
an Origin Story Tornado at Black Lightning, as the first episode of the series
by Salim Akil and Mara Brock Akil (Being Mary Jane) goes straight into the life
of the depraved neighborhood vigilante. The flashing fight against criminals
looks like a youthful sin in the face of the civilized life that Jefferson
Pierce (Cress Williams) leads. As headmaster, he stands at the head of a
lighthouse in a neighborhood of the fictional city of Freeland shaken by gang
violence. Thanks to his age and his two teenage daughters, Pierce has a
different perspective on superhero existence right from the start, as she's
available to colleagues from the DC series and to Marvel's heroes at Netflix or
in the movies. While his daughters have parties and demos in mind, Pierce has
made himself comfortable in his civic mission. He has saved more lives at
school than in his costume, he once said. At the end of the first episode of
Black Lightning, he will wear it anyway.
Pierce
initially defies all calls for activism, whether from his politically-motivated
daughter Anissa (Nafessa Williams), who is arrested in a demonstration against
The 100 Gang (unfortunately not the The 100 Gang); or by his mentor Gambi
(James Remar from Dexter), who urges to dust off the old costume. In the
nuanced approach to superhero existence, Black Lightning profits from his
experienced protagonist. The storm, the urge, Pierce has long been behind. He
has gone through the cycle that passes from the personal quest for retribution
to duty, which will find no fulfillment, no termination. Somewhere, a new evil
boy will always jump out of his corner and at some point a beaten wound will
not be mendable. Instead, Pierce has created his Island of Bliss, an idyllic Themyscira,
shielded from the violence that engulfs neighbors and TV commentators. How he
succeeded in this is mentioned in a subordinate clause: With 100 member Lala
(William Catlett), the director has signed an agreement so that weapons and
drugs do not cross the school grounds. Of course, the policy of appeasement on
a small scale remains illusory, perhaps the most politically explosive insight
in the first episode and easy to miss between the more noticeable bonds from
the news of recent years.......
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