While
Black Lightning season one was very much a superhero origin story for both Thunder (Nafessa Williams) and Lightning (China Anne McClain), it was also a pretty intense supervillain origin story for Painkiller (Jordan Calloway) and it looks like The CW plans on bringing a lot more pain to all three of our heroes in the coming second season.
Earlier this afternoon, during the series' SDCC panel, the network announced that Jordan Calloway had been upped to series regular for season two. Additionally, when the show returns this fall, he'll have fully adopted his Painkiller moniker, which won't be good news for anyone in Freeland. Executive producer Salim Akil expressed his excitement in a press release, “
I’m thrilled to have Jordan upped as a series regular. He was a great asset to our show in the role of Khalil/Painkiller during season one, and now that he has evolved into Painkiller, I can’t wait for you all to see him in season two.”
Plus, they also released a new SDCC trailer, which is essentially an extended season one sizzle reel. Check it out below:
Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) is a man wrestling with a secret. As the father of two daughters and principal of a charter high school that also serves as a safe haven for young people in a New Orleans neighborhood overrun by gang violence, he is a hero to his community. Nine years ago, Pierce was a hero of a different sort. Gifted with the superhuman power to harness and control electricity, he used those powers to keep his hometown streets safe as the masked vigilante Black Lightning. However, after too many nights with his life on the line, and seeing the effects of the damage and loss that his alter ego was inflicting on his family, he left his Super Hero days behind and settled into being a principal and a dad. Choosing to help his city without using his superpowers, he watched his daughters Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Jennifer (China Anne McClain) grow into strong young women, even though his marriage to their mother, Lynn (Christine Adams), suffered. Almost a decade later, Pierce’s crime-fighting days are long behind him…or so he thought. But with crime and corruption spreading like wildfire, and those he cares about in the crosshairs of the menacing local gang The One Hundred, Black Lightning returns — to save not only his family, but also the soul of his community.
Black Lightning features:
Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning
China Anne McClain as Jennifer Pierce
Nafessa Williams as Anissa Pierce
Christine Adams as Lynn Pierce
James Remar as Peter Gambi
Damon Gupton as Henderson
Black Lightning returns with an all-new episode October 9