SDCC 2018: BLACK LIGHTNING Electrifies Ballroom 20 With Sizzle Reel
When Black Lightning debuted last year, the creators were told by a lot of folks that it would fail. Here we are at SDCC going into the show’s second season and a packed Ballroom 20, demonstrable proof that those voices couldn’t have been more wrong.
Showrunners Salim and Mara Brock Akil knew that they would face quite a bit of adversity when bringing an older hero to life while trying to focus on the black experience as a whole, but both they and the entire cast passed with flying colors. They’ll be lighting up your screens again on October 9th with a whole season’s worth of new adventures.
In addition to the issues tackled in season one, Mara Brock Akil wants to help remind everyone that black women have always been fighting on the frontlines, whether it be at the polls, supporting their families and husbands, or equality as a whole. She hopes that the platform they’ve managed to create with two complex and very different female heroes will help show young women how to continue doing that.
They were asked when they knew that Black Lightning was going to have a cultural impact, to which Salim Akil acknowledged that it was thinking about Halloween. He’s always loved Batman, and remembered that when he was young his hands didn’t match the color of his mask. To solve that his mother had gotten him a pair of gloves, and he had a moment after starting Black Lightning that he’d be changing that for young black kids.
In addition to returning on October 9th and continuing to expand the very real social issues the show addresses, Black Lightning will be bringing Painkiller (Jordan Callaway) back as a series regular.
While there was no trailer for the show’s second season, they did bring a smoking hot sizzle reel along with them. Check it out below, and let us know what you think in the comments.
