Black Lightning's Marvin Jones III Says Tobias Has a Plan For Everything Going Into the Finale

Black Lightning fans have less than a week to prepare themselves for the end -- and nobody is [...]

Black Lightning fans have less than a week to prepare themselves for the end -- and nobody is looking more invincible going into the finale than Tobias Whale (Marvin "Krondon" Jones III). The central antagonist of the series, Tobias has gone from reclusive gangster, to prisoner, to the mayor of Freeland in just a few short years. Now, as the series speeds to its conclusion, he's up against Black Lightning and Painkiller at the same time, while the device he has been using to keep the metahumans of Freeland under his control in recent episodes is not exactly a foolproof plan. Still, he's close to securing a spot on the Shadow Board, which Jones has said was Tobias's goal all along. Think of them as the Quadrant from Arrow, but more ambitious.

During a recent chat with Jones, ComicBook suggested that Tobias, always the smartest guy in the room, had nobody to blame but himself for his problems. Going into a finale that sees Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) and Khalil Payne (Jordan Calloway) both gunning for him, Jones conceded that both of those opponents have legitimate beef, and likely wouldn't be coming after him if he hadn't been so cavalier about doing terrible things with witnesses on hand.

"It's true: Black Lightning wouldn't be there if it wasn't for Tobias," Jones told ComicBook. "I hope someday that Tobias can come to understand that, but I do think that he's probably too wrapped up in himself to see it for what it is."

That might be one of his few weaknesses. Whether it's political liabilities like his dark past coming out, or the threat of meta-powered police officers in Freeland, Joes told us, "Tobias is not really concerned with those things. He's going to have a strategic plan."

Whatever is coming next week, Jones is happy with how his character's fate lines up at the end of Black Lightning. He didn't want to tell us what he would have done if it was up to him, becuase he said it was so close to what actually happened, that heworried about spoiling.

"I don't even think he took my thoughts into consideration I just think that it just lined up," he explained.

With a Painkiller spinoff potentially coming down the pipeline, and Khalil appearing in the last couple of episodes of Black Lightning, what does he have to say about that? Well, it ties back to the idea of Tobias creating so many of his own problems (and enemies).

"My favorite stuff on the show is the rivalry between Khalil, and Lala, and myself," Jones said.

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

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