‘Black Lightning’ May Already Have Joined the ‘Arrow’-Verse
The CW’s Black Lightning smartly opted not to connect itself to the Arrow-verse, but may already have walked back that decision. Tuesday’s latest dropped shout-outs to both Vixen and Supergirl, and we’re … confused, to say the least.
To date, Black Lightning has only loosely referenced vigilantes and superheroes existing within its world, so as not to muddle the more grounded stakes of Freeland with alien invasions or giant walking sharks. That may have changed with Tuesday’s “The Book of Little Black Lies,” as Jefferson Pierce’s daughter Jennifer (China Anne McClain) learned the truth about her father and sister’s costumed alter-egos. The youngest pierce incredulously asked her mother if she had her own secret identity, to which Lynn (Christine Adams) denied being either Vixen or Supergirl.
The exchange naturally set off alarm bells, as the Arrow universe’s “Earth-1” has both present-day Vixen Mari McCabe (Megalyn E.K.) and Legends of Tomorrow version Amaya Jiwe (Maisie Richardson-Sellers). Melissa Benoist’s Supergirl exists on her own “Earth-38” (plus “Earth-X,” if we want to get weird), and neither series has identified any one universe in which all these characters exist together. Black Lightning has even referenced Supergirl before, and featured DC’s Outsiders as a comic book.
It may be that Vixen and Supergirl are themselves part of a comic book universe within Black Lightning, but should that mean Jefferson Pierce and his daughters will never get to play in those yearly CW crossovers? Lest we forget, Constantine was once its own universe on NBC as well, and now Matt Ryan has joined Legends of Tomorrow in a permanent capacity.
We may not get the answer to this Crisis on Infinite Earths for some time, so stay tuned.
Gallery: Every ‘Arrow,’ ‘Flash,’ ‘Supergirl’ and ‘Legends’ Crossover, Ranked