'Black Lighting' Composer Talks Evolution of Thunder's Theme

During Black Lightning's first season, viewers were introduced not just to the titular hero and his non-heroic identity Jefferson Pierce but to his family as well. The season saw both girls develop super powers, but the older daughter also became a hero in her own right: Thunder.

As audiences watched Anissa grow into her powers and take on her heroic identity they may have noticed the music of the episode developing right along with Thunder before culminating in the character's own unique theme. According to the show's composer Kurt Farquhar, that's no accident. Farquhar recently told ComicBook.com that he had been building that theme over a few episodes.

"I had been building that theme, the Thunder theme, which is the guitar epic that happens while they're fighting," he said, specifically referring to the fight between Thunder (Nafessa Williams) and Syonide (Charlbi Dean) in the season's penultimate episode. "You'll look back over the last three episodes before that, we have been doing this theme more on piano, more emotional when Gambi gave her her designs to her uniform when she was first sitting down on top of her Mom about it. So you start seeing elements of this theme."

He also explained that there was no coincidence about when the theme fully came together. He wanted it to fully evelop for that specific fight scene, the the fact that Thunder faced off with another woman was a surprise that only made the music stronger.

"I was always building towards this moment when she was gonna have a battle and I always knew I was gonna do it with guitar," he said. "But I did not know that the battle was gonna be with another woman, so that, to me, just took ... I said, 'Let's take off the gloves and let's make these women really powerful. Let's make no apologies for it. They are gonna kick ass.' That was my biggest marking order that I had, for me, during that episode."

Farquhar said that even outside the music, it was a scene in the series that he really loved.

"They did a great job, they were like, at it," he said. "It's really interesting how they developed the Thunder charcter and to see her and Syonide fight was... I loved that one, that was a really, really great scene."

Black Lightning will return for a second season. Be sure to follow ComicBook.com for updates and news about when the show will return as it becomes available.