Black Lightning Actor Reveals Details of His Involvement in Crisis on Infinite Earths

Cress Williams is finally bringing Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning to the Arrowverse in "Crisis on Infinite Earths," the big crossover event coming to your TV in the winter and set to totally upend the order of things on Arrow (which will end a couple of weeks later), The Flash, Supergirl, and DC's Legends of Tomorrow. The star-studded event will pit the heroes against The Anti-Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) in a battle to save the multiverse itself -- something that both Arrow and The Flash will be dealing with literally from the first episodes of their upcoming seasons. It makes perfect sense for them to do so, since Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) was taken away from his wife and daughter at the end of last season in order to help The Monitor (also LaMonica Garrett), and Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) has been counting down to his disappearance/death in the Crisis literally since the pilot of The Flash.

Legends of Tomorrow, which will launch as a midseason show this year, will actually begin their season with "Crisis," which will play as a "special" and will probably more or less disregard the conflicts that the Legends will be working with this season. Meanwhile, we don't know how early Supergirl and Black Lightning, who both exist on their own worlds within the DC multiverse on The CW, will become involved.

"We feel isolated a bit being in Atlanta, but I socialize with a lot of the other shows when we're doing press together. They all are really cool people, so I'm excited to play with them," he says. Which actor is he particularly excited about sharing the screen with? "It sounds like the politically correct answer, but it's not: It's all of them," Williams told EW. "I feel like being Black Lightning and Stephen Amell's Arrow character, they have that kind of vigilante quality that's similar and a grittiness that's similar. That will be a lot of fun. But I've interacted with The Flash cast quite a bit just in random places, and I really enjoy being around them. I'm just starting to get to know [Supergirl's] Melissa [Benoist]. She's legitimately one of the nicest people I've ever met. I really look forward to playing with all of them and acting alongside all of them, and swapping stories with all of them. I think it'll be really fun."

If Black Lightning is going to become a part of the Arrowverse, "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is definitely the time. In comics, the event changed the face of the multiverse in ways that are still being felt in comics to this day. It would be a prime opportunity to bring the series into continuity, if you will. As a series, Black Lightning would be in a good position in the upcoming third season to have the hero lend a hand, too. Thunder/Anissa Pierce (Nafessa Williams) has been seen taking a much larger, much more visible and active heroic role on the streets of Freeland. With her prominence rising, it would in theory be workable for Black Lightning to head off to a whole different universe and help out while Thunder kept things running in Freeland.

In the comics, Crisis on Infinite Earths centered on a battle between the combined superheroes (and even some villains) of the DC multiverse and an immortal, cosmic threat known as the Anti-Monitor. Like The Monitor, the Anti-Monitor will be played by LaMonica Garrett in the Arrowverse. As the Anti-Monitor destroys realities, he replaces their positive matter energy with antimatter, growing his own power and sphere of influence. He was eventually stopped by the sacrifices of several heroes, including The Flash and Supergirl, as well as the merging of multiple universes to save reality by becoming a single, unified timeline. Fans have long wondered whether the events of "Crisis on Infinite Earths" might bring Supergirl and even Black Lightning to Earth-1, where the rest of the series take place. The crossover will also feature guest appearances by Johnathon Schaech as Jonah Hex, Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne, and Brandon Routh as Superman.

"Crisis on Infinite Earths" will air on The CW this winter, taking place on five episodes of TV over two quarters -- one each of Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and Batwoman. Black Lightning will return for its third season on October 21, 2019 on The CW. Are you excited for the Crisis? Chime in below or tweet your thoughts to @russburlingame.