# Black Lightning (2018)

> A New Orleans charter school principal and father secretly returns to his old identity as a lightning-powered vigilante to protect his community from gang violence.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/62553

## Facts

- Seasons: 4
- Episodes: 58
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: action, drama, science fiction
- Created by: Salim Akil
- Network: The CW
- Cast: Cress Williams, Nafessa Williams, China Anne McClain, Christine Adams, Marvin Jones III, James Remar, Jordan Calloway, Chantal Thuy
- TMDB rating: 6.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6045840/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: earnest, gritty, hopeful, bruising

## What critics say

Audience reception is negative, with viewers praising its funk-infused style and Black superhero representation while faulting its CW-style melodrama and uneven, stereotyped writing.

## Synopsis

Black Lightning (2018-2021) is a American superhero drama series created by Salim Akil for The CW, part of the Arrowverse franchise. Cress Williams plays Jefferson Pierce, a principal of a charter high school in New Orleans who secretly returns to his former identity as a lightning-powered vigilante. His daughters Nafessa Williams as Anissa and China Anne McClain as Jennifer are drawn into his double life, while Christine Adams plays their mother Lynn. Across four seasons and fifty-eight episodes, the engine is a father trying to protect his neighborhood from a gang kingpin, Marvin Jones III as Tobias Whale, while keeping his family from discovering the cost of his secret. Episodes mix neighborhood-level street conflicts with serialized superpowered threats, giving the show a case-by-case rhythm within a continuing story. Set in contemporary New Orleans, the series blends gritty street crime with family melodrama and a soundtrack of 1970s funk. The tone swings between earnest, community-minded hope and bruising action, with themes of responsibility and identity. Fans of Luke Cage, Arrow and The Boys will find resonance in its grounded superhero approach and its focus on a hero rooted in his community.

## Shows like Black Lightning

- [Peacemaker (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/92208)
- [Krypton (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/62300)
- [Marvel's Cloak & Dagger (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/58397)
- [Supacell (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/120150)
- [Superman & Lois (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/80280)
- [Vixen (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/55304)
- [The Flash (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/54190)
- [The Flash (1990)](https://ember.film/tv/219)
- [The Umbrella Academy (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/65131)
- [Marvel's Runaways (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/59346)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt