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'Black Lightning' Spinoff 'Painkiller' Set As Backdoor Pilot At The CW


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The CW is developing a backdoor pilot around the Painkiller character from the Black Lightning series.

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Jordan Calloway plays the character of Painkiller and will continue the role as the eponymous character for the pilot.  Calloway plays Khalil Payne, a man ridden with the guilt of his troubled past from his former life in Freeland City, where, as a super-enhanced killing machine known as Painkiller he was both a member of Tobias Whale’s gang and a weapon of Agent Odell and the shadowy ASA.

After attempting to bury the darker, devastatingly lethal Painkiller part of his persona, Khalil has distanced himself away from everyone he knows and loves in a new city, Akashic Valley, in order to find peace, but peace never comes easy for men with pasts like his. As his violent, destructive history crashes his idyllic new beginning, Khalil is thrusted back into action with a new mission: bring justice where he once gave out punishment. But to do that, he will first have to deal with and harness his darker side.

 

The pilot is being written, directed and executive produced by the Black Lightning showrunner Salim Akil.  The planted pilot will air as the seventh episode of Black Lightning’s fourth season, which will premiere in February 2021.

The Painkiller spinoff is from Warner Bros Television. Berlanti Productions, which produces Black Lightning and all other DC series, is not involved.

Source: Deadline

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Didn't care for this character at all and was glad when it looked like he was being written off.

I would've preferred to see episodes focus on Black Lightning, as, you know, the star of the series....at least the first few seasons....but he's rapidly being downplayed in favor of exposure of his daughters and now, this clown.

Also, since he's now in the same shared universe as the other CW DC heroes, how about some interaction there? Maybe a story where Black Lightning and the Flash explore the more lightning-based part of their powers more. Supergirl getting tips from an older hero. That kind of thing.

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11 hours ago, Atlantis said:

Didn't care for this character at all and was glad when it looked like he was being written off.

Generic suit, generic origin, there isn't much there TO care about.

I also agree on Black Lightning increasing his footprint in the shared Arrowverse. If nothing else, address the fact that in their own universes Black Lightning and Superman have operated for years, yet in the mainstream Arrowverse, metahumans weren't even considered a thing until after the Flash pilot. I mean Barry's whole backstory was his search for proof of the "Impossible."

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18 hours ago, Atlantis said:

I would've preferred to see episodes focus on Black Lightning, as, you know, the star of the series....at least the first few seasons....but he's rapidly being downplayed in favor of exposure of his daughters and now, this clown.

That's one of my gripes with the entire Arrowverse, after a while they sidestep the main character and focus on the supporting cast. I actually liked the Black Lightning and I always liked Cress Williams as an actor but it was becoming clear that he was going to be pushed aside in favor of his daughters who I found terribly annoying so I dropped the series.

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