Cress Williams and Christine Adams Tease The First Season of Black Lightning
We're sorry to be the bearers of the bad news, but in spite of a long history of comical wigs on [...]
We're sorry to be the bearers of the bad news, but in spite of a long history of comical wigs on Greg Berlanti's comic book shows like Arrow, The Flash, and Riverdale, there's not going to be the classic Black Lightning Afro hair in the upcoming live-action TV series.
That's one of the things we learned when series stars Cress Williams, who plays Black Lightning, and Christine Adams, who plays his estranged wife, joined ComicBook.com on the red capet at The CW's upfronts presentation last week to discuss the next big superhero show from the network.
You can check out the video above for the full interview, or get the highlights below:
This felt like a safe show from the word go. Are you actually surprised by the full-series pickup or mostly just excited?
Cress Williams: That's exactly it. From the moment of hearing about this, and every step of the way, we all felt fairly confident -- but we're also actors, so we're inherently insecure. So as more time passes, we started going "Well, maybe not. Maybe this, maybe not," So you want to hear that official word. But once you hear it, you're like "Of course!"
Berlanti has a long history on his shows of some pretty terrible flashback wigs: is there any chance we'll get the flashback fro?
Williams: No, you're not going to get the flashback fro! We've established that the flashbacks are going to be bald, so it'll be the opposite. It won't be a wig. I'm thankfully not old enough to have been a hero in the '70s, so we won't go back that far.
You guys are "more than a superhero show." What do you think makes this show stand out?
It's exactly that. I liken it to Battlestar Galactica. I'm a huge fan of that show, and I got a lot of friends who were into it because whether or not you like sci-fi, it was a great drama. People who weren't a fan of genre liked the show. That's our show, is that we're a family drama. We're rooted in real life, with super powers on top of it. We haven't seen that -- of course, our skin tone, we haven't seen a lot of that either, but it's rooted in real life and it's really a family drama at the heart of it.
Christine, you've been quiet. What can you tell us about your character?
Lynn, in a way, is the glue that holds th family together. They were married at a very young age, she was one of the few people who knew about his super powers, but eventually it became difficult in their marriage for him to go out and endanger himself every night, so that's what separated them. They have these two children, they still co-parent them, they still have feelings, there's still a lot of friendhip and respect.
It's a regular, modern marriage in terms of they've been through the ropes and now they're just trying to raise these two young women and hoping that they get it right and hoping the girls turn out okay. Just normal, family stuff that lots of people are going to relate to, and then on the top, you have this extra layer of super powers, so there's going to be something for everybody in this show. If you want to watch the fight sequences, the special effects, great. If you want to see these young girls potentially getting in trouble, great. If you want to see these two, are they on or are they off? You're going to get everything.
This show isn't in the Arrowverse, per se, but obviously there's always a multiverse. Would you want to eventually make a crossover happen?
I think it would be interesting down the line. Eventually we're going to have probably three superheroes on our show with me and the daughters. Once we become some kind of team, it would be great to go as a team onto another show. It's going to be fun developing that, because with every good thing, there's going to be a lot of wrinkles to deal with.
I think those who are fans of the comic book are going to be very excited, becuase we're rooted in the comic book, so all the things that attract people to the comic book are in the show, and then some.
More Black Lightning news:
WATCH: DC's Black Lightning TV Series Trailer
- Black Lighting Officially Not In The Arrowverse
- Black Lightning Gets a Series Order at The CW
- Black Lightning Character Breakdowns And Synopsis Released
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.
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