superhero industrial complex

Fox Snags the Pilot for Greg Berlanti’s Black Lightning, Potentially Expanding Fox’s DC Universe

Photo: DC Comics

Last week it was announced that superhero super-producer Greg Berlanti was developing a show based on the DC Comics character Black Lightning with the wife-and-husband duo of Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil. Berlanti runs all four of DC’s programs on the CW, and now his reach will extend to Fox, as the network has just committed to producing a pilot of the new show, according to The Hollywood Reporter. If Black Lightning makes it to series, it will be Fox’s third DC-affiliated property, joining Lucifer and Gotham in their comics slate (though Lucifer comes from the Vertigo imprint). Though Black Lightning himself is not a Gotham City native (he lives down the way from Superman in Metropolis), DC TV loves brand synergy, and it’s hard to imagine Fox would keep Lightning entirely isolated from Gotham, as the ultimately interconnected expanding universe is one of the main components of producing a super-network of movies and TV shows. Besides, Gotham City could always use another hero. That place is a mess.

Fox to Produce Black Lightning Pilot