DC Guru Greg Berlanti Developing Black Lightning TV Series with Mara Brock Akil

DC is getting another TV show. Greg Berlanti, the CW guru behind that network’s DC universe, has teamed up with Mara Brock Akil for Black Lightning, Deadline reports. This new series will be a drama based on the comic books created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden. The project is currently being pitched to networks, per Deadline.

The project, which is being written by Akil, will center on Jefferson Pierce, a superhero who has long since hung up his cape. Now, with a daughter hell-bent on justice and a student being recruited by a gang, Pierce will be pulled back into the superhero game.

When Pierce was introduced in 1977, he was one of DC’s first black superheroes. His comic books feature two daughters, both of whom followed him in his superhero footsteps. Anissa becomes Thunder, while Jennifer becomes Lightning.

Black Lightning won’t be the first superhero show with a black lead. It will be joining Luke Cage, a Marvel show set to premiere on Netflix on Sept. 30. Pierce will likely be a different kind of hero than Cage, though, one much older and more weathered by his years of saving lives.

Black Lightning will only be the latest DC show from Berlanti, following the likes of Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and the forthcoming Archie Comics adaptation Riverdale. Akil, meanwhile, has sold Documenting Love, a multi-camera comedy, to ABC.