'Crisis on Infinite Earths' could see 'Black Lightning' become a bigger part of the Arrowverse
The CW's 'Black Lightning' has stayed away from the other DC superhero shows on the network and the characters from the series have never interacted with their fellow superheroes from 'Arrow', 'The Flash', or 'Supergirl'. The upcoming crossover event 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' is going to change all that as Black Lightning/Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) will finally be joining the other heroes of the Arrowverse to go up against a threat that's bigger than anything any of them have faced before.
'Crisis' will see the heroes of the multiverse unite to face the threat of the Anti-Monitor (LaMonica Garret) a cosmic being who seeks to destroy every universe. Blood shall be spilled and lives shall be lost in the battle to come and even if our heroes manage to make it out alive, their worlds will never be the same again.
The aftermath of the ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ comic book event saw the collapse of the multiverse. All the infinite parallel worlds that made up the DC multiverse were condensed into a single Earth, now populated by beings who were initially part of different universes but who no longer remember their past lives.
If The CW's version of 'Crisis' does pull off something similar, it could bring 'Black Lightning' to the same universe as 'The Flash' and 'Supergirl'. This would be a welcome shift for the series as it would help add more locales to the show's world, which right now seems to be mostly confined to just Jefferson's hometown of Freeland.
Though the showrunners have been pretty adamant about keeping 'Black Lightning' separate from the rest of the Arrowverse, that is a choice that severely restricts the kind of stories the series can tell. Both 'Arrow' and 'The Flash' have shown that having a shared universe between shows doesn't take away from the quality of the individual shows, in fact, it makes things even more exciting for the fans.
Right now, it doesn't look like 'Crisis' is going to have much of an impact on 'Black Lightning' but that can change as the event draws closer. And perhaps it would be better for everyone involved if it did change, sooner rather than later.
'Black Lightning' Season 3 will premiere on The CW October 7. Here's The CW's schedule for the next big crossover: 'Supergirl' - December 8; 'Batwoman' - December 9; 'The Flash' - December 10; 'Arrow' - January 14 and 'DC's Legends of Tomorrow' - January 14.