The Arrowverse is about to say goodbye to its most electrifying superhero. According to Deadline, Black Lightning will end after its upcoming fourth season. Although this news is surprising, a few recent CW-verse announcements might explain why the show is coming to a close.
When Black Lightning began, it stood out as one of the few superhero shows that had Jefferson Pierce, a black character, placed firmly in the lead role. But it further distinguished itself by diving into the nuances and complications of how difficult it is to balance a family with superheroics. Throughout the first three seasons, his ex-wife Lynn and daughters Jennifer and Anissa were all given complex storylines that explored challenging topics through the eyes of black women. The intimacy of their stories was perfectly balanced with strong villains, shocking twists, and really fun fight scenes.
Buy the Book
Remote Control
Although the third season finale offered a few new directions the show could go in, the CW has chosen to end Black Lightning’s journey for now. One of the reasons for this finale may be the recently announced Painkiller show: Painkiller A.K.A. Khalil Payne is a black teenager with metahuman abilities that had an interesting journey on Black Lighting. He went from supporting character to all-out villain and now seems to be an anti-hero (at the moment). A series following what this high-school-student-turned-assassin chooses to do with his gifts is an interesting prospect.
Ending Black Lightning may give the Painkiller show more of an opportunity to stand on its own two feet without being compared to its parent show. And given that Supergirl on CW is ending after its current season as Superman and Lois is starting, this line of thought isn’t too far fetched. And with a Wonder Girl series on the way as Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Batwoman continue their respective runs, the network will still have plenty of superhero content to go around.
But the presence of all these new shows won’t make saying goodbye to Black Lightning any easier. The series gave fans a lot of great memories and provided another opportunity for black people everywhere to see themselves as superheroes. Maybe we’ll see the Pierce family appear in some form on Painkiller or a future CW-verse crossover. They always encouraged us to take charge of our own futures. Hopefully, they have one too.
BLACK LIGHTNING is shot in Atlanta instead of Vancouver like the other ARROWVERSE shows. I wonder if that had anything to do with this choice.
Praise Beebo that LEGENDS hasn’t been given the boot, but I’m rather shocked it hasn’t with its ratings.
Too bad, I really like this series, in a lot of ways prefer it to the others…I just kind of wish it remained something of an outlier to the Arrowverse as originally intended, I found its overall tone and narrative format/continuity didn’t really mesh well with the others. Really liked its more grounded and dramatic approach…
this is the only arrowverse show i watch. it will be missed. tobias whale is a great villain, and the overall story has been fascinating commentary.
“Where is the future?
Right here.
Whose life is this?
Mine.
What are you going to do with it?
Live it, by any means necessary.”
-Black Lightning
This is the only good show in the CW-verse! Very disappointed
@1:
Praise Beebo that LEGENDS hasn’t been given the boot, but I’m rather shocked it hasn’t with its ratings.
When the Arroweverse renewals went through earlier in the year, I remember thinking this year would likely be it for Black Lightning and/or Legends. I knew both shows have been struggling with ratings and I read that Legends has the highest budget of its siblings.
So I’m not surprised Lightning went first. Legends Gcould still end its run this Season, though, but I think it depends a lot on the state of Arrowverse in the next year and whether the CW feels it needs one of old guns around for another year.
Right now, it’s in a state of flux. Supergirl‘s ending and Superman and Lois will launch, but we’ll have to see if it works.
Grant Gustin’s contract is up this Season and while they could do a repeat of Arrow‘s Season Eight, I think Gustin’s ready to move on from The Flash.
Even Batwoman‘s long-term survival is also up in the air since, of course, we don’t know how the show’s gonna fare with the Javicia Leslie retool.
Legends of Tomorrow sells really well overseas and on-demand. It doesn’t have a lot of domestic broadcast ratings, but it brings in money nonetheless. And the revolving door aspect of its ensemble show prevents the actor’s wage bill going too high. If your agent asks too high a fee, then you are off the Waverider and someone new can sign on instead.
@6:
And the revolving door aspect of its ensemble show prevents the actor’s wage bill going too high. If your agent asks too high a fee, then you are off the Waverider and someone new can sign on instead.
True.
That said, I do wonder if the show could (or even should) survive in the event Caity Lotz decides to leave. It’s not so much that she and Dominic Purcell are the only surviving members of the starting Main Cast. Rather, it’s that Sara’s both one of the breakout characters of the Arrowverse and the de facto main protagonist of Legends at this point in the show.
So I can’t imagine Legends continuing without her at this point. But similarly to Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen, Lotz has also been playing Sara for nearly a decade now. I’m not sure how much longer she wants to remain the White Canary.