Black Lightning is heading to the CW, and while we don't know officially when he'll be making his debut, we have a pretty good idea. The good news is that while you might have to wait longer than you might have had Fox not passed on it, we're already less than a year out! Exactly how far is a more complicated matter, but the smart money has Black Lightning appearing in the Arrow-verse sometime in early 2018.
THR reports that after Fox, who initially ordered a pilot for Black Lightning, passed on the series Greg Berlanti will most likely be taking the project to The CW. Right now The CW is eyeing Black Lightning for a midseason premiere sometime around January to April of 2018. That makes sense, seeing as that's what The CW did with Legends Of Tomorrow when it first premiered. Then, any successive seasons of Black Lightning will probably air in October alongside The Flash, Supergirl, Arrow and Legends. The CW still has to decide the fate of some other shows like iZombie and The Originals, and their decision regarding those shows could play a factor in Black Lightning's premiere date should they need a show to fill either one's slot.
Provided nothing changes with any of the currently running CW hero shows, that means Black Lightning will be DC hero show number five on the list. With the show premiering in the midseason, you have to imagine our new hero is going to miss out on that awesome four-show crossover, seeing as this season's mega crossover hit before the new year. That said, it's possible Black Lightning's alter ego Jefferson Pierce could cross paths with another hero at some point in his adventures or even make his TV debut via the event in some way. With Black Lightning originally being developed for Fox, I wonder what plans, if any, were being discussed towards inclusion to the current CW DC fold. Greg Berlanti has done a good job of establishing heroes in other CW shows prior to their debut, so I don't think it's crazy to assume we could see Jefferson Pierce in action before his show officially begins.
While I'm excited I get the opportunity to fawn over yet another Greg Berlanti CW hero series, I'm more excited to see how the respective shows juggle their increasingly complicated schedules. With time already a factor in pumping these shows out, 2018 scheduling is going to have to be on point if Berlanti and crew want to continue with these hero tie-ins and crossovers in storylines. I'm definitely curious to see whether or not they're able to pull it off; perhaps we'll learn that Black Lightning will take place on a different Earth like Supergirl. While we wait for an official premiere date on Black Lightning, be sure to visit our summer premiere schedule to see what's on the horizon in television and see what will be around next year via our renewal guide.
