Black Lightning's Marvin Jones III Says He Thinks Tobias Whale Would Triumph Over Lex Luthor

Since Black Lightning came to The CW, fans have wondered whether it existed in the same multiverse as the rest of the network's family of DC Comics adaptations. The "Arrowverse" includes Arrow, The Flash, Batwoman, and DC's Legends of Tomorrow on Earth-1, while Supergirl takes place on Earth-38 and travels across the multiverse to take part in annual crossovers and other such exchange programs. Up to this point, Black Lightning has been stand-alone...but that changes in December, when Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) is drafted into the battle against the Anti-Monitor in "Crisis on Infinite Earths." The world of Black Lightning will only be represented by the series lead, with no episode of the series dedicated to "Crisis," but when Jefferson returns home, one assumes that he will share with his brilliant scientist wife that he has seen other universes, complete with other metahumans and cities that have heretofore only been referred to as the stuff of comic books in-story. But how will Tobias Whale (Marvin Jones III) react to learning that there are other universes out there -- and, implicitly, more to conquer than he ever imagined before?

As far as anybody knows, Tobias Whale will not be involved in the Crisis -- but when ComicBook.com asked Jones what his character might think of his fellow white-collar criminal mastermind Lex Luthor, the question seemed to pique his interest. Jones suggested that, to his mind, a prospective meeting between the two characters could present a challenge to Tobias that he has not experienced before.

"We are [going to be] exposed to other universes; it's going to become bigger than Freeland with the crossover this year," Jones said during an interview on the set of Black Lightning yesterday. "There has to be somebody out there to challenge [Tobias] on his side, and I'm interested to see how he triumphs over that. I think he will; there's something about this guy. I'm not saying it because I play him, but there's something about this guy -- he doesn't go away easy. They're going to have to reveal an adversary that's on his side."

For the first time, Black Lightning will be part of The CW's interconnected universe of DC Comics shows, colloquially called "The Arrowverse," and will take place in the Arrowverse's annual crossover event. The crossover will also feature guest appearances by Tom Welling as Clark Kent, Erica Durance as Lois Lane, John Wesley Shipp as the Flash of Earth-90, Johnathon Schaech as Jonah Hex, Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne, and Ashley Scott as The Huntress.

"Crisis on Infinite Earths" kicks off on Sunday, December 8 on Supergirl, runs through a Monday episode of Batwoman and that Tuesday's episode of The Flash. That will be the midseason cliffhanger, as the shows go on hiatus for the holidays and return on January 14 to finish out the event with the midseason premiere of Arrow and a "special episode" of DC's Legends of Tomorrow, which launches as a midseason series this year and so will not have an episode on the air before the Crisis.

Black Lightning airs Monday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.