Black Lightning‘s third season is officially in full swing, pitting the Pierce family and the town of Freeland against an ever-evolving Markovian threat. While there’s no telling exactly where that narrative will go next, we now know it will involve a surprising DC Comics character. According to a new report from Entertainment Tonight, actor and television personality Wayne Brady has been cast in a “major” recurring role for the series, as Tyson Sykes/Gravedigger. Brady’s portrayal of Gravedigger is expected to first appear on the series in early 2020 (after characters from the show appear in the network’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover).
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Tyson Sykes is described as a World War II-era member of the U.S. military who became a “super-soldier” after a secret experiment gifted him with enhanced strength, agility, tactical genius and hand-to-hand combat expertise. After the war, Sykes defected to the country of Markovia rather than return to a segregated America. His aim to create a sovereign land for metahumans within Markovia sets him on a collision course with the ASA and Black Lightning.
Tyson first made his debut in the comics in 2008’s Checkmate vol. 2 #24, and was co-created by Greg Rucka, Eric Trautmann, and Joe Bennett. He is the second character to hold the mantle of Gravedigger after Ulysses Hazard initially held the name since 1977.
Brady has a storied career in film and television, including How I Met Your Mother, Colony, and The Bold and the Beautiful. He also hosts Let’s Make a Deal and regularly appears on The CW’s Whose Line Is It Anyway?. This is just his latest appearance in a DC Comics adaptation, after voicing Micron on Batman Beyond and guest-starring in the “The Sons of Icarus” episode of the 1990s Superboy series.
Brady’s role comes as Black Lightning prepares to deal with the coming Markovia conflict head-on, leading to a bit of a division amongst the Pierce family.
“The family is probably the most disjointed we’ve ever had it,” series star Cress Williams said in an interview last month. “It’s the whole Markovian conflict. It’s pulled everyone in different directions because they’ve gotten a little bit divided, in the sense there are just different focuses that they have and different motivations that they have.”
What do you think of Wayne Brady joining the cast of Black Lightning Season 3? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Black Lightning airs Mondays at 9/8c on The CW.
