‘Black Lightning’ Review Round-Up: What The Critics Are Saying

Early reviews for The CW's brand new DC Television series 'Black Lightning' are available to read online, and reactions are pretty positive so far.

Early reviews for The CW’s brand new DC Television series Black Lightning are now available to read online. For fans excited to finally see the character make his live-action debut on television, rest assured. Based off of early reviews, the buzz on the series is pretty positive.

As of the publishing of this article, season 1 currently stands at a 100% critics’ rating with 10 fresh reviews and 0 rotten ones.

Here are some excerpts from the early reviews right here:

Newsday‘s Verne Gay:

“Is Black Lightning a great addition to DC’s TV canon? The answer will come in time, because it takes time. The pilot’s tropes are overly familiar, the action sequences predictable. But this is absolutely a welcome addition, potentially a valuable one, and indisputably a long overdue one.”

IGN‘s David Griffin:

“The world of Black Lightning feels alive with real-world issues at the forefront of its story. Creators Salim and Mara Brock Akil have left out the league of assassins, interdimensional speedsters, and alien invaders in order to focus on gang violence, police brutality, and racism within the black community. If you take away the superhero angle, Black Lightning would still be a great drama series on its own.”

CNN‘s Brian Lowry:

“Black Lightning bears symbolic significance in that context, but ultimately, has to work as a TV show. In Williams, fortunately, the CW has a hero worth watching, albeit one who will appear to require some time for him, and his vehicle, to settle into the job.”

Collider‘s Allison Keene:

“Black Lightning is a very savvy show, and one that deals with a number of complex themes. It introduces us immediately to a fully-formed world in Freeland, where exposition is revealed naturally, and the characters genuinely feel like they’ve known each other for years. There’s also an intimacy to Black Lighting that can be warm, like with Jefferson’s family, or extremely cold, like in close-up, violent executions by gang members. The series is not interested in having Jefferson or anyone else take out legions of faceless bad guys. There is a lot of gun violence, but it has a point; while life on the streets of Freeland may be cheap, death means something on Black Lightning.”

Orlando Sentinel‘s Hal Boedeker:

“The villains are scary, the dialogue is smart, and the actors are compelling. Black Lightning serves a welcome jolt.”

CinemaBlend‘s Nick Venable:

“Despite providing a realistically gritty tone, Black Lightning is far from a total downer-fest, even if there isn’t a Cisco or Mick around to drop silly one-liners. We’ve somehow made it this far without talking about the magnificence of the Black Lightning character himself, who doles out punishment largely through devastating punches and kicks that are bolstered by Jefferson’s lightning powers, which are enhanced by his flashy-yet-dapper costume.”

New York Post‘s Robert Rorke:

“With Black Lightning, The CW has given us another entry — an entertaining, edgy piece of escapism that adds some much-needed diversity to the network’s lineup of white-bread soap operas.”

Washington Post‘s Hank Stuever:

“Of course, there are consequences to superhero-ing while black. It’s a thoughtful approach to the genre’s usual tropes, and Williams excels as a conflicted good guy.”

With all of these positive reactions, one cannot help but feel encouraged that the show will succeed as yet another great DC television show on The CW. Fans waiting to see the character in his glory can relax knowing that the consensus seems to be pretty solid.

The show stars Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning, Nafessa Williams as Anissa Pierce, China Anne McClain as Jennifer Pierce and Christine Adams as Lynn Pierce.