Black Lightning Adds James Remar and Damon Gupton To Cast

Black Lightning just surprised audiences with its San Diego Comic-Con debut. Part of that surprise, as fans discovered during the show’s panel, was two impressive casting announcements.

James Remar (Dexter, The Warriors) will be joining the cast as Peter Gambi, a.k.a. “the oldest friend of Jefferson Pierce” (played by Cress Williams). Gambi is described as “Jefferson’s father figure, mentor and ‘tailor.’ His history with Jefferson goes back farther and deeper than anyone knows, and Gambi’s role in Jefferson’s life will become a painful window into the past that will affect the future of their relationship forever.”

Also joining the cast is Damon Gupton, who audiences will recognize from La La Land and Bates Motel. Gupton will play Inspector Henderson, a veteran officer of the law who is now the highest-ranking detective on the force. His role in the community puts him at odds with Jefferson’s alter-ego, Black Lightning, but they soon become unlikely allies.

Black Lightning will air on The CW in 2018.

More Black Lightning News: 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.