Black Lightning Costume Revealed!

Take a first look at the Black Lightning costume as production begins on the DC Comics pilot

The latest DC Comics small screen hero has today made a colorful debut. Black Lightning, starring Cress Williams (Hart of Dixie) in the title role, has officially started production in Atlanta. In the gallery viewer below, you can take a first look at the Black Lightning costume in a piece of art from the upcoming The CW pilot. Greg Berlanti, Salim Akil, Mara Brock and Sarah Schechter are executive producers on Black Lightning, from Berlanti Productions and Akil Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. Salim Akil is directing the pilot from a script he wrote.

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“I knew way too much about the world as a young boy growing up in Richmond, California,” says Akil. “I was no stranger to violence, death, hopelessness or the feeling that no one cared about what was happening in my life… Comics were a great way for me to escape. I was about 13 when Black Lightning was created, and finally there was a Black Super Hero that gave a damn about our neighborhood and our lives.”

Black Lightning, created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden, made his first appearance in 1977’s Black Lightning #1. The story follows Jefferson Pierce, a former Olympian, who was secretly born with the ability to create and manipulate electromagnetic fields. Although he had abandoned his hometown in Metropolis’ Suicide Slum after the murder of his father, Pierce returns there with his wife and daughters, taking a job as a high school principal. It is after losing one of his students to the gang violence that threatens the city that Pierce decides to take advantage of his powers. Adopting the identity Black Lightning, he becomes a costumed superhero who goes on to serve as team member of both the Outsiders and the Justice League.

The Black Lightning costume was designed by Laura Jean Shannon, whose credits include films like The Jungle Book, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Iron Man, for which she was nominated for a Costume Designers Guild Award.

What do you think of the Black Lightning costume? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!