'Black Lightning' Reportedly Casting Major New Characters in Season 2

Black Lightning returns for its second season this fall on The CW and it sounds like there will be quite a few new faces in Freeland -- and some big changes for the Pierce family.

TV Line reports that "a flurry of fresh faces are being cast" for Black Lightning's second season. Among them are a scientist named Dr. Jace, a new love interest for Anissa Pierce (Nafessa Williams) and a new principal for Garfield High.

While the report gave no specifics about any of these roles, there quite a bit that we can speculate about -- especially with Dr. Jace. This casting could be a play on Dr. Helga Jace. In comics, Jace was the royal scientist in the fictional nation of Markovia who used experiments to give super powers to the king's youngest son, Brion Markov (better known as Geo-Force) and his half-sister Terra Markov. She ultimately ends up as a villain of the Outsiders, killed when she attempted to kill Metamorpho in Outsiders #27 in 1988.

With the death of A.S.A. leader Martin Proctor during the season one finale and Lady Eve's (Jill Scott) death previously, bringing in a version of the sadistic Dr. Jace would provide Tobias Whale (Marvin "Krondon" Jones III) with someone to work with as he tries to eliminate Black Lightning once and for all. It also might be an opportunity for the show to explore a bit more of Whale's criminal connections as it was revealed during the season that Whale has connections that allow him to enhance people who work for him -- such as giving Syonide (Charlbi Dean) internal body armor.

The other two characters -- a possible love interest for Nafessa and a new principal for Garfield High -- seem to indicate big changes for the Pierce family. With Jefferson Pierce's (Cress Williams) alter ego Black Lightning recognized as a hero, it's possible that he will choose to leave his role as principal of Garfield High to focus more on protecting Freeland though it is equally as possible that his false arrest for drugs could lead the school board to dismissing him. It's also possible that this potential new principal could be someone coming to replace Vice Principal Kara Fowdy (Skye P. Marshall). It was revealed last season that Fowdy was working for Proctor so with Proctor dead, Fowdy may have moved on, leaving room for a new face at the school.

Fans will have to wait until Black Lightning's Season 2 premiere in October to find out just what these new characters will mean for the series, but in the meantime, fans can get caught up or simply rewatch the series on Blu-ray and DVD, complete with deleted scenes. Black Lightning: The Complete First Season will be available tomorrow, June 26.

Black Lighting will return on Tuesday, October 9 at 9/8c after The Flash on The CW