SPOILER WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the series finale of Black Lightning, which aired on Tuesday, May 24.
Salim Akil, creator and showrunner of The CW’s Black Lightning, discussed the events of the climactic series finale, including the fate of antihero Khalil Payne, a.k.a. Painkiller.
In an interview with ComicBook.com, Akil was asked about his decision to erase Khalil’s memory of the Pierce family. “It was something that I knew I wanted to do,” Akil said. “Because I wanted to give him sort of a fresh start and really get that kill quarter out of his head so that he, and so that Khalil and Painkiller could try to develop a working relationship. It’s still going to be difficult for them to develop that relationship. But as we’ve seen on Black Lightning, they’re managing it. Now that they don’t have that kill order to talk about or to negotiate, I wanted to just leave them with just themselves, you know?”
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Khalil Payne debuted in the show’s first season, when personal tragedy led to him becoming the superpowered assassin Painkiller. Since then, he has alternated as ally and enemy to Black Lightning, with Khalil in a constant struggle against his bloodthirsty alter-ego. Khalil departed Freeland at the end of the third season when he was given an order to kill the Pierce family. In the Black Lightning finale, Khalil was purged of the mental programming that demanded him to follow the order — at the cost of removing his memories of the Pierces altogether.
It was announced in November that The CW had ordered a spinoff starring Painkiller, with a backdoor pilot airing as part of the Black Lightning’s final season. However, The CW decided to pass on the spinoff, with Akil and his associates trying to find a home for the series at HBO Max. Painkiller would have seen Khalil operate as a hero in Akashic Valley as he struggles with both his own dark side and the shadowy machinations of Maya Odell (Sibongile Mlambo), the daughter of the man who reprogrammed Khalil’s brain.
In the same interview, Akil stated that he approached Black Lightning not as a show about superheroes, but a show about family. “I always saw it as a way to communicate people, having fun by having great music, by having great stories, but ultimately what it’s about for me is to help others in their community, and an interesting family dynamic. And it’s [a] very odd thing for a family to go through the things that they went through together and come out alive whole and healthy.”
Black Lightning stars Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning, Nafessa Williams as Anissa Pierce/Thunder, Christine Adams as Lynn Stewart, Laura Kariuki as Jennifer Pierce, Marvin “Krondon” Jones III as Tobias Whale and James Remar as Peter Gambi.
Source: ComicBook.com
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