The project, produced by Greg Berlanti (Arrow, Flash, Supergirl), and written by married couple Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil, was announced on September 1 (see “'Black Lightning' Being Developed for TV”). The series has been in the works at WBTV for a year, but the studio wanted time to get the tone correct.  The series will join fellow DC Entertainment properties Gotham and Lucifer on the Fox Network.

Black Lightning was one of DC Comics’ first African American superheroes, created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden in 1977. The story follows Jefferson Pierce, a retired superhero who has hung up his cape. However, his daughter is hellbent on justice and a star student at school is being recruited by a local gang, so he’ll have to return to the fight as his alter-ego.