Black Lightning is back on The CW! Tonight's Season 2 premiere returns Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) and his electrified alter ego to the streets of Freeland in showrunner Salim Akil's unique take on the DC superhero. Unlike many comic book shows on TV today, Black Lightning takes a strong social stance and isn't afraid to poke and prod at contemporary social issues, all while juggling family drama, small-town politics, and insane action that seems to come right from the pages of the comics themselves. For a rundown on just what viewers can expect from the sophomore run of the superhero show this season, be sure to read our own Allison Keene's review here. And for a detailed look at what's coming in the season ahead, continue reading for much more from the cast and crew.

During a recent visit to the set of Black Lightning, I had a chance to chat with Akil and the cast in a series of group interviews, along with other reporters from across the country. We spoke with Akil and Williams, as well as co-stars Christine Adams, China Anne McClain, Nafeesa Williams, James Remar, Marvin Jones III, Damon Gupton and Jordan Calloway, about Season 2. Akil and the cast were thrilled to tell us much more about this season than viewers have seen so far, so we've kept the spoilers out of this piece so that you can enjoy the CW show as it rolls out each Tuesday at 9pm. Keep an eye out for much, much more from our Black Lightning set visit report in the weeks ahead as new surprises, guest stars, comic book cameos, and epic drama unfold!

In the meantime, whether you've checked out tonight's Season 2 premiere or not, here's what you can look forward to seeing and experiencing in the all new Season of The CW's Black Lightning:

Showrunner Salim Akil on Season 2

What else is a surprise for people that they can expect when the show debuts on October 9th?

Salim Akil:  I think tone. You know, it's just we're headed into ... I think some of you have already heard this. We're headed into the Book of Consequences. So, I think tone. Tonally, it's a little bit more faster paced. I think that'll surprise people. We do continue the family aspect of the show, but I think the conflicts, now that everybody's discovering who they are, I think will shock people. Just the conflicts within the family.

I loved the first season how you took real life experiences from the headlines like Confederate statues. So, what has been happening over the last year that we'll see integrated into this season?

Akil: I think one of the things that disturbed me the most, that I've seen recently, the snatching of people's children away from them and using the excuse of laws to do something that morally you know is incorrect, but because you wanna make a point, you do it anyway. I always tell people about laws is just one generation ago, there were Jim Crow laws. Didn't make them right. Right? So, you can't always use laws to sort of have an excuse or condone what you're doing. So, that really affected me 'cause I know what it's like to be taken away from your parent. For whatever reason. But, it's never good to be taken away from them.

And the show isn't just a show for Black people. It's for all races, red, white, you know whatever.

Akil: Yeah. I think we've proved that.

Proved that, but I guess my point would be what impact you hope season two carries on? What impact will it have on people of all races? Like, why should they watch?

Akil: To have a conversation. I hope, when I read the scripts, I try not to point fingers because we're all in it. It's all our fault. I mean, we can pretend like it's not, but we're all allowing those children to be taken from those parents. So, I think what I'm trying to do is have a conversation, not really point fingers. I have a point of view clearly, but I also try to make room for the other side of the public coin.

Race sometimes is in a lane where people will get uncomfortable, but, you wanna get them comfortable so they can make action towards it.

Akil: Yeah. I think, you know, if I can use the Pierces and this genre to talk to people, then people will have conversations. If you have a White friend and you got a Black friend, and they both watching Black Lighting, they may have a conversation about this. "What is ... What the fuck is that Tuskegee experiment? Why do they keep saying that?" You know, people don't know these things. So, we sometimes get angry at folks. When I say "we," I mean people. We sometimes get angry at folk, but we don't realize they may be ignorant to what you're actually experiencing or talking about. So, I think it's incumbent upon all of us to sort of try to educate each other before we start yelling at each other. And I think hopefully that's what would happen. Especially this season. It's some shit coming down the road even I'm scared of.

What will the effect on Freeland be once it's revealed what's inside Tobias' suitcase?

Akil: War. War. You see I was excited about that.

Can you expand on that a little bit?

Akil: I think what you're seeing is the rise of the Green Light babies. And something's gotta give. Something's gotta give, and you can't contain them all.

Did you get more money for the music licenses this season?

Akil: We did get a little bit more money.

Rolling Stones, Sly and the Family Stone. Do you pick the music?

Akil:  Yes. Yes. Me and my music supervisor, Kurt. He's been working with me for a long time.

Can you talk about the opening title cards for each episode in Season 2 and the inspiration behind that?

Akil:  Just a nod to comic books in general. I felt like the first year, we were ... I kind of was shying away from the whole comic book aspect of it, and this year, after going to Comic-Con. 'Cause guys, I wasn't a big comic book person. You know, I love the Milestone Comics.  And I loved Batman. You know what I mean. From a kid.  So, I had never been to Comic-Con.

The first time we went, we had the trailer, the presentation. So, all of us were there. Most of us were there. I don't think Cress had been to Comic-Con. I hadn't been to Comic-Con. And so, when we came back this year, it was bananas. I think we were in the second largest room.

So, I was like, "Oh, this shit is real. It's not just in a box." I said, "Well, I wanna do something to say hello, give a little nod." So, I decided I wanted to do books. You know, like when you get a comic, and it's book one, book two. So, the first four episodes, The Book of Consequences.

So, at the end of Season 1, we kind of see the downfall of Jefferson Pierce in a lot of ways. So, if you could tease anything about the end of Season 2 for Jefferson Pierce, what would you say?

Akil: War.

Cress Williams on Jefferson Pierce and Family Drama

Can you tell me about the growing tension between Black Lightning and Thunder?

Williams: It kind of resembles the tension between a parent and a daughter. I mean I think that's what we're watching and we're playing out. If you take the powers away, it really is this parent with a twenty-something year old who still lives under his roof. So she's his child, but she's an adult, but she's still under his roof, and that tension of her stepping into a room and having her make some of her own mistakes, doing things differently than he would do them. And then how does a parent speak to that when you're an adult? But you are under their roof and it's all that, that's what's playing out and I love that, because it's truthful with what is going on with families or what goes on with families at that time. And it's messy, and I personally love it when I'm right. And yeah, we're still in the midst of it.

What's really cool about our show is, because you're just doing things, and I lose track of like, "Man, we're going through a lot. The family is going through so much." So I think about that aspect and I'm like, "Wow." But then there's the whole Jennifer aspect and then there's the job and then there's what Lynn's dealing with and I'm like, "Man, we're going through a lot" and it's cool because that's what family is really like. It's like, I'm working as an actor and then we're trying to potty train our little one and one of them is sleep deprived and then they got a teenager. Life doesn't stop. That's what we're trying to create in our show.

What are Jefferson's priorities right now and what are Black Lightning's priorities and how do they make for internal conflict?

Williams: Yeah, well the simple thing is Black Lightning's priority is always Tobias. It's always taking care of that, and taking care of Freeland. That's always like Black Lightning's priorities. But Jefferson's, which is actually really clear, in black and white and actually really focused. It's Jefferson's priorities that are, his number one priority is family, and the most immediate is probably Jennifer. But then there's also work. And he's not allowed, if anything, to deal with one thing at a time because if he could, the first thing, he would just kind of put everything away and go, "Okay, I'm gonna sit with Jennifer and we're figure out how these powers work." But life doesn't work that way, because what's great, Christine, the actress but also her character gets the whole Green Light Babies thing which really gives her a great journey. But then that becomes the family's journey. But I think his first priority is always his family. I think family and then it goes out from there. His family to the school to the community and then if you go down into family, the most pressing is Jennifer.

Jefferson has a lot of changes this season.

Williams: Yeah. It's great though, I like it. Otherwise he wouldn't have put the suit on. It would be called Jefferson.

If you would give a theme to describe this second season for Jefferson, how would you describe it?

Williams: I mean, I know it is, what the first part of the season is called The Book of Consequence, but honestly I would just call it Mess. But it is like real life, I mean, because he just has so much going on, but it is real life. In this fantastical world, because we all have family, and that's enough in itself. You have your career, and that's usually not boring and that's enough in itself. Then you have the community at large, then you have the world and that stuff. If you have crisis in your family, none of the other stuff just pauses. It doesn't pause, it just keeps going. And oftentimes, you're having to do multiple things. It's amped up because it's a television show, it's amped up because it's superpowers, but that's what is going on. Yeah I would call it Mess, in the best possible way.

Black Lightning's origin story something you would like to see in the series at some point?

Williams: I think we've hinted at it and we've shown it. I like the fact that we haven't done a whole flashback episode. I like that we've kind of shown it in the moments we've needed to show. So we saw the first moment that his powers manifested and how him and Gambi have connected. I mean we haven't seen the first time putting on the suit, or I imagine there was a first time going out there and it probably was pretty messy and unsuccessful. That would be cool. It would be cool. It probably would give me some time off, because I wouldn't be able to play that part, so it would be somebody else playing the younger Jefferson. But I think as long as we do it in this sporadic way, as opposed to, "This whole episode's gonna be a flashback." What's great though, is that you get the origin story, you're kind of getting a beginning, middle and end story, through Jefferson as on the one end of the spectrum and this is somewhere right in the middle and then now Jennifer's in the origin. So you kind of get all of it.

Christine Adams on Lynn Pierce

We've seen the first three episodes of the second season. I’m just so glad you’re doing more, she's got an arc, and Bill Duke!

Adams: Yes, and Bill Duke, yeah, and who doesn't love Bill Duke. And actually, I did get a little bit starstruck because he's bit of a legend isn't he?

Can you talk about that? Was that your first time meeting him?

Adams: First time meeting him and, I mean this is so sweet, he actually was like, "Oh, Ms. Christine, would you be okay if we ran some lines?" I was like, "Yes, of course." I was so afraid and it was so funny because Nafessa was like, "Did Bill Duke just asked you to rehearse?" I was like, " Yes." First, of all that I find so humbling because I think actually, so many times, you forget ... like actors, they all get this legendary status, but actually what you forget is that he's still an actor, and his heart and soul, he wants to get it right, he wants to make sure the words are right, you know what I mean?

That was so gratifying for me because I wanna work till I can't work anymore, so I think when you see an actor like that who's done so much, he's still completely invested in the work. He's not just phoning it in like, "I'm Bill Duke," which he definitely doesn't.

So one thing that you wanted everybody to take away from season two, for your character.

Adams: I just think about what Lynn has been through and it is such a rollercoaster. This is just one piece of this season. It's hard for me to say the takeaway because I really don't know where she ends up at the end of season two. I just don't know because she has said, "I'm gonna do anything, and I'll do whatever it takes." She said it in her actions at the end of season one. She's says it with her words in of season 2. I don't know where it ends, I don't know what the audience will sort of see. I'm actually one of those actors, I don't need to know, because I like to just play in moment of what's real. But hopefully, they will feel like they've seen something real, and that they will really still care about her and the family. And I think they will, I think they will, but I don't know what's going to happen to poor Lynn.

Just wait. It gets dark.

Yeah, we asked Salim. We were like, "What's the theme for this season?" He's like, "War." Okay.

Adams: One of our typical Salim moments.

China Anne McClain on Jennifer Pierce

That dynamic that you have, we were talking about this, with Nafessa, it's real. I believe you two are sisters, I believe when that camera goes off, you are still sniping at each other. Throwing pillows and throwing things at each other, do you have that feeling too?

Anne McClain: I absolutely love Nafessa, and when I do those scenes, it reminds me of my two sisters. Of my older sister specifically, my oldest sister Sierra, because she's like my second mom. So, whenever we have those scenes, I don't really fuss with my sister because I, you know. I don't want to get in trouble, like I said, second mom, but wen I do those scenes, and we don't really see eye to eye, when were talking about things and its really passionate, I totally get sister vibes with her, because it reminds me of conversations that I've had with my real sisters at home. I love doing those scenes with her.

Is there a possibility of things working out with Khalil?

Anne McClain: There is a huge possibility of things working out with Khalil. I mean, they were friends before they dated, so she cares a lot about him. He's in a lot of crap right now, being over there with Tobias, Painkiller, he's a totally different person than when she first met him. But she still cares about him. And she still wants him to be okay, she still wants the best for him. So, you're gonna see that throughout the season, her trying to, you know, help and save him. That's all I'ma say.

Nafessa Williams on Anissa Pierce

I felt the first season, your character's arc, an origin story. Now she's sort of protecting her sister. So which do you think season 2 is more about: Jennifer or Thunder coming into her own?

Williams: I think you have a bit of both. Especially in the first. In the first, you focus on Thunder coming into her own and being very confident in the superhero she has become. She trusts herself. She's taken matters into her own hands by any means necessary. But it's also Jennifer's time to see her going through the struggles of again still not embracing and not wanting to be a superhero. I think it's more about Jennifer for sure. And us, trying to care for her. She's going through so much.

She's going through it, ya'll. She's going through it. I think first season I was like 'You gotta come on. You gotta understand that this is who we are and you gotta embrace it". But now it's just like "Let me protect her." And let her get there when she gets there. Still always inspiring her and trying to convince her that this is who we are and its a gift that God has given us and we gotta use it. But I think the focus is definitely, especially after the first few episodes, on Jennifer and the journey of her.

The thing about Thunder is I can control my powers. This little baby, it's like her whole world is turned upside down. She's just trying to figure it all out.

So Season 1 we got to see some of Anissa's personal conflict with her father as just regular people. Now it seems they are having conflicts as superheros. Can you talk about that?

Williams: I think that Thunder, again, she's much more comfortable. She's confident, confident being a superhero. She's smarter. She's matured into a better superhero and she looks at her father as more of a partner now. She's like "Okay Daddy. You taught me what you needed to teach me." And they disagree. But she's definitely coming from a partner stand point than "You're my daddy. My mentor. You taught me what I need to know. I'm prepared. I'm equipped. I'm sharper. I'm smarter." But they don't always agree on Thunder's way of doing things.

This season kind of has the tagline "Book of Consequences." Now you can see that as the consequences of everything that happened in Season 1.

Williams:  Exactly. We're dealing with all of those consequences. In the beginning of season 2, she's definitely having fun. She's like "Alright. I have these powers." She knows she's strong. She knows she's unstoppable. And if you ask her dad, She's having a little to much fun with everything. I think in season 2, you are going to see a bit more of her balancing her life. Having a little fun. Living a little more. Dating and getting back out there and trying to find love, hopefully. Now being midway through the season, I think the focus now is on Jennifer, more so, and being that older sister who's protecting her, wanting the best for her and just trying to do what's best for her.

To that end, is Annisa going to get back with Grace? Is Grace still on the show?

Williams: Grace is still on the show, but what happens we don't know, because she's dating. She's having fun.

Yes. We saw. She's having a lot of fun.

Williams: She's having fun and just trying to find that balance. Just trying to find that balance, because first season she's developing her powers, trying to understand them and figure how to control them, and she gets it but that was the only focus in Season 1. Now, her family and her sister's like "You gotta get back out there. You gotta live." We'll see who I'm living with. But yeah, she's having fun trying to find out who is best fit for her.

Do you think that Thunder wants to kill? That she would? It's weird to me that these superheros don't kill anybody.

Williams: I don't think Thunder is ever looking to kill. But if she's in danger and if its kinda a life or death situation. Hurt somebody, yes. Who needs what? I got it. I'm ready. Let's hit the street.

Catch these hands.

Williams: You can catch these hands. Let me take my breath and we could. But it's never a thing like she's looking to kill. I think, if anything, she'll do what she has to for her community, for her family by any means necessary. Even if you remember in the first season, when she was outside of the store and she knocked the guy out and he passed out on her. She starts freaking out, like she called the ambulance. She's not really a mean person. Strong, bold, can hold her own. Yeah. But yet she freaked out when she thought he was knocked unconscious or she the heat. She knocked him out. You saw her go home and she felt really guilty about it and it was weighing on her. Just don't get in her way. She's not trying to kill you.

James Remar on Gambi

Are you feeling more comfortable in Gambi's skin in the second season? What have you added to the character to make it kind of your own?

Remar: I felt comfortable in Gambi's skin from day one. I don't think that it ... I'm not an actor that can really play roles that I'm not suited for, that don't fit. If it just doesn't fit, and I can't feel myself doing it, I'm very, very hard to persuade to do it. It starts looking awkward. And I didn't have those feelings about Gambi one bit, from day one, so the more I play it, hopefully the better at it I'm getting, and when I'm ... one of the things that I'm able to tell, is like when I put the outfit on, and I start talking like that guy, it starts to feel seamless. There's not like this big transition from James to Gambi. It feels like I'm wearing familiar clothing.

What would you say his kind of core guiding principles are, for the character? What do you kind of like root in for Gambi, because he's kind of a little duplicitous character, with what ...

Remar: Whoa, he gets a big adjective for that. Duplicitous. Core guiding principles. Alright. You know, actors are supposed to have secrets, you know? We're not ... if you know everything, then you're not gonna watch the character with a disbelief suspended. But in this instance, with my relationship to Pierce family, you know, the guiding principle is love. I love the Pierce family, I adore the kids, Thunder's my buddy, and we're tight. Jennifer is coming into her own, she's just a kid. And Jefferson is my grown son. And Lynn, we butt heads, but she loves and respects me.

So I'll say love, with respect to them, and with my mission against the A.S.A., as it were, and some bad people is probably a sense of responsibility. And I don't think he's duplicitous, okay? I think he's discreet.

Good adjective.

Remar: Cause duplicitous is too hard to play. Duplicitous is rotten. But there's a need to know basis, and there's discretion. And I would say Gambi is the soul of discretion.

You said that Thunder is his buddy. We've seen a few scenes already in season two, will we see more? Because I kind of feel like the relationship with Jefferson is strained a little bit, since he's found out all the things that Gambi used to do. Is it closer to Thunder?

Remar: Anissa comes into it, with Gambi, with a clean slate. I've known her since she was a baby. And Gambi is who he always was to her. So there's nothing that can upset, or stain, the relationship from the past. Whereas Gambi knew Jefferson's dad, and arguably in some ways, because of what he knew and people that he knew and was associated with, was part of the cause of his dad's death. He was trying to help, and I believe Jefferson recognizes that, that he tried to help Alvin, and tried to expose these guys, but Alvin named names, he went too far.

And I believe that Jefferson knows that. So it's a complex relationship in that respect, but the love between those two men has never gone away. Is Jefferson angry? Does he forgive me? Does it inhale and exhale and go back and forth a bit? Yes it does. Whereas Thunder, I haven't done anything to upset her. And I fully support her, and I dig her enthusiasm. She's down with being a meta. And I love it.

Anybody else on the cast that you'd love to have a scene with, that you haven't had a chance to yet?

Remar:  I haven't really had any scenes with Jordan. You know, and I haven't had any scenes with Damon, with Inspector Henderson. And I imagine that those are coming. I had one really good scene, in the fourth episode last season, with Tobias. Which was a hot scene, that I really, really enjoyed. So, you know, he's got an ax to grind with me. We have a bone to pick with each other.

As discrete as Gambi is, and as concerned as he is about the identity of Black Lightning being protected, why do you think he made the costume the way he did?

Remar: [So that] they're identifying him as Black Lightning, they're not identifying him as Jefferson Pierce. So when he takes it off, he's more of an ordinary looking guy. As opposed to something so flashy, you're looking at that uniform. And it is also body armor.

That fact that it lights up though, wouldn't there be times, or haven't there been times when he's kind of sneaking around with a big bright light on his chest? He needs a stealth suit.

Remar:  Yeah, there you go, switch it to stealth mode, if need be.

Fair enough. What is one thing you want people to come away from season two with? We got an establishment of all these characters in season one. In season two, what do you want viewers to really walk away with?

Remar: Well, hopefully a feeling of a satisfied adventure, that they've been on a good ride, that's been entertaining, and interesting, and engaging, and an appetite for a third season. Wanting to go further, to go deeper, and to just spend time with these characters in their homes. Which is what we do, we come into people's homes, and that's a new thing in the world, where moving images of other people come into your living room. That's less than what, it's like 70 years old maybe? And so yeah, I'd like people just to embrace, and love the characters and want to see more of them.

Is there any other DC comics character you would like to see Gambi interacting with?

Remar: In the whole DC universe? Yeah, sure, all of them. Yeah, I mean, it'd be cool if I was pals with Batman. You know? Or maybe Alfred's like the British A.S.A. or something? That would be cool. I mean, but in a ... if it was a really very, very broad universe that ... and were not just ... I would like to be visited by Brainiac 5, from the Legion of Super-Heroes.

I feel like that would be ... they were my favorite DC comic when I was a kid, was the Legion of Super-Heroes. Which I don't feel ever got the popularity that they ... at least that they occupied with me. They were teenagers, and they were awesome.

Brainiac 5's on Supergirl now.

Remar: He is, isn't he? Oh, well than yeah, I'd like to interact with Brainiac 5.

Marvin Jones III on Tobias Whale

How is Tobias going to get anything done if he ends up killing everybody that he works with?

Jones:   He doesn't kill everybody. He doesn't kill everybody. I think Tobias is one of those characters who understands the limits that he has with you, where he's gonna to go with you early on, whether the viewer knows it or not. I think when you see him interact with someone, he kinda knows what this outcome is gonna be, how long he's gonna deal with that person, and for what reason he's gonna deal with that person.

You were sort of saying Tobias can size up the people around him, and he knows who he's gonna give time to and who's not worth his time. So what are his plans for Khalil? You're grooming him, right?

Jones: I'm trying to. You know? But it's kinda like ...

He's no Lala.

Jones: Well, he's not Lala, of course. He's not Lala at all. If you know season one, you know he doesn't have a history. Tobias and Lala had a long, long history. And Lala has been working with Tobias a very long time. So, hence, that's why he runs everything. He didn't run everything overnight. He was the face of the whole thing. I was in the dark shadows underground, wouldn't come outside up until recently.

Lala was running everything. That's why him fucking up, bringing his cousin on and doing all that shit at the Seahorse Motel, he had to go through what he had to go through, at the end of the day. Jordan is completely different. He's a momma's boy, good kid, boy scout. He's not from my world or from my life. Now, because of the void that's been placed upon my world, I need somebody, and it's love. I'm in need of love. There's no love there. There's no support there. How do say? There's not a board to bounce ideas off of. So he's there, of course to be groomed, but he's there for necessity, whether he knows it or not. And I don't think that he's having the best of times with that grooming process.

Was Tobias born with his powers or were they given to him?

Jones:  Yeah, it's enhanced. I think his superpower is, like what sis was saying and opened up, I think his super power is his uniqueness that he was born with. And how he was able to use that uniqueness, defy his father's odds, defy all the odds that was put before him, and become a politician, prominent in the community, right? That's his superpower. The love that he doesn't get from the outer, he finds within. And he utilizes that to control and manipulate. Everything else is enhanced and you know it. And you see it. And it's okay because Black Lightning wasn't born with his powers either.

Damon Gupton on Inspector Henderson

How could Henderson not realize that Black Lightning was just his friend Jefferson with a mask on?

Damon Gupton: It's a suspension of disbelief, comic book blinders. You know it's hard, I mean yeah that's a hard one, but that's the only way man. The blinders on, there's a whole thing about the mask kind of like the viewers can see but normal people can't, you know what I mean? Which helps a little bit.

Certainly if Henderson was to find out that Jefferson was Black Lightning, I would definitely expect a change in that dynamic for him, if that's to happen. Yeah, but I mean you got to understand Inspector Henderson is in an interesting position because he really wants to be a part of the solution I think without having to lean on a vigilante. I think that if there was any reveal that someone close to him was the vigilante, how could he not feel betrayed by that?

Speaking to that there's a lot going on over here. You got corrupt politicians. You got corrupt cops. It's hard being, it seems like its very hard for your character to walk to straight and narrow. We saw at the end of season one he was relying on the vigilante a little bit because its like, I got to fight fire with fire. Are we going to see more of that conflict?

Gupton: Absolutely. Absolutely. You will see more of that, that divide. I mean in a way he's just kinda sucked into everything cause he has no choice. I mean you start to deal with people that have real powers way beyond their capabilities. So he'll get all the help he can get probably, while keeping his pride intact.

Yes and at the end of season one also in the Season 2 trailer that there's now more people popping up with powers. How is the inspector going to keep all the balls in the air?

Gupton: Well, that's a good question. I think we're exploring that as season two goes along and certainly more will be revealed. I think he basically has to keep doing his job. He's just been promoted and he has to keep moving forward and try how to do things to the best of his abilities.

What do you see for your character's mission? What's his ultimate goal at the end of the day?

Gupton: I think what Inspector Henderson at the end of the day would love to see in Freeland is control. He hasn't had it. He's been promoted. He definitely has to put his foot down, and he's the first Black deputy chief in the city that he's from. He's kind of a, one of them homegrown boys, and he'd like to make sure that things are running the way they should be because he believes in truth. He believes in justice, the good old-fashioned way. I think he'll have his hands full, but that's his challenge.

Would you like to see more of Inspector Henderson's past?

Gupton: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Like most characters, most actors would. I think yeah but I think I would be more interested in seeing a lot of the stuff that brought him and Jefferson together in the first place. What makes their friendship so strong, and what's his relationship to the family because I think because it gets estranged quickly. You know because of intentions and position he's inhabited in a community. Yeah I would love to see that cause these were, these were boys. They grew up together and yeah and should that, should a reveal happen that would make that even more potent I think.

Does the inspector have a family? Do his kids go to Freeland Elementary?

Gupton: No. No kids and he has a wife, Veretta, who we've met briefly in season one.

In the opening scene, Jefferson got pulled over for no reason by police and I wondered why your character didn't you go and say, "Hey, your boys did this last night"?

Gupton: I mean we did try to touch on it a little bit but again irons in the fire. I think we have to return to that to keep with the strong social justice on the show. That's a great plan.

The, did you jump at the fact that you were going to be part of a superhero TV show?

Gupton: I was really excited about it, of being apart of the superhero struggle. The one thing being I don't have any powers yet, but I don't know. Somebody might slip some Green Light in my coffee.

You never know cause it gives you side effects.

Gupton: Yeah that's true. But you never know where they're going and that's the beauty of this. It could totally turn out that maybe, maybe Inspector Henderson isn't as good as he should be.

Now, would you like your character to take a darker turn?

Gupton: It would be interesting. I play a lot of good guys so I would love to play a villain. I think Marvin gets to have a ball on this show. I would love to see, I don't know, can he handle all those pressures? What's the weight of all this stuff? Does he betray Freeland? Who knows. Does he get to come back? Hey, that's for all of these smarter cats than me.

What is one thing that you want folks to take from season two?

Gupton: Expect the unexpected.

Jordan Calloway on Khalil, a.k.a. Painkiller

So you killed Black Lightning.

Jordan Calloway: Yes, I that was first with me so, I will hold onto that one.

Now that we know where we are.

Calloway:  Yes we are there. I was the only one that did pull that off. I shouldn't be proud of that though right? Maybe not.

What's Khalil's journey this season?

Calloway: Wow! Okay so Khalil's journey it's... You know what's great about it, with the whole writing staff, with Salim and Pat and Charles and Adam I mean, Jen, all of them, what's great about them is that, we focus on keeping stuff realistic. Grounded. Even though, we're in this very metahuman world we also maintain the essence of addressing real issues with characters. Character-driven projects. So, Khalil you look at him, at least what I've realized from the work that we've done, he's a kid that is dealing with identity.

He has an identity struggle between, you know, good and evil. He has these cards that were dealt for him. That he earned and had everything that was really stacked up against him being on the wrong side of the tracks, yet he fought against all of the norms, all of the things that he could have fallen into. Only for that to be taken away from him, which we saw with the gun shot.

Now then you also have to place yourself in a high schooler's shoes. A young kid that had everything going for him and then, all of the sudden, the world it's just swept from right underneath him. What does somebody do like that? What would you do in that situation? You're a high schooler. And the drug infestation, the gang violence, all of this stuff that is right in your face, that you were fighting against now seems to be the next viable option. And so when we see Marvin taking his talent, like I said, and really getting in there and grasping onto this fragile, young kid who is really vulnerable. He's able to mold and shape him as if he were like malleable clay. This young man he's going through an identity crisis between knowing what's right, but still fighting against it. Just because everything else is coming so easy to him.

Can you talk about his relationship with Jennifer and how that is, going through season two?

Calloway: Well the thing with Jennifer, she is ... It goes to the old adage, you know, "behind every king is a strong queen". You know, and what I love about our relationship is you see how both Jen and Khalil play off of one another. How they support each other. How they sharpen each other as if a whetstone to a sword. So, for her, she's his rock. She's his North Star, as some would say. Yeah, she's the one that brings him back. That shows him that path that he's diverged from.

So speaking of paths, your character has an interesting kind of path and choices laid out for him. It seems like your character now has one of two options: He can try to work things out with Jennifer or he can kind of go down this path where he's being groomed towards a life of violence. What do you think are the toughest challenges ahead on this path, the way he is currently going?

Calloway: Okay, so it goes to what you were saying about how, he's being groomed. His whole perspective now has changed from: this is what I can get out of, to now, it's like, this is what I meant. Because he is a young man of code and honor I think he'll be very loyal. He feels a sense of loyalty towards Tobias because Tobias provided him with the thing that he lost and that he was very prideful of which was, his legs.

You'll see in the following episodes some other things that Khalil's being trained up as. In the different, very barbaric and aggressive, I guess you could say, torturing type of things that he uses in order to drive a point.

But that's really what's going on so, either break or make Khalil. Between Khalil or Painkiller. And you have that dichotomy between those two characters which is great 'cause it's the journey; that path of, which one are you going to choose. And they're taking their time showing what he's going through so that it's not just, oh, that's what happens. You know?

Are we gonna see a fight between Painkiller and Lightning?

Calloway: Well, you know, all I'm gonna say is ... I mean, he caught them hands before, and we know how that went down. So, I don't know if he really wants it. We're just gonna leave it at that.

Does your character, does Khalil fear Whale, fear Tobias, or does he respect him?

Calloway:   I would have to say for Khalil it's definitely not a fear. Well, he does have a fear because he knows who Tobias is. Keep in mind, his mother, you know, he's not sure what he would do to his mother. If it's a fear it's not so much a fear for his own safety but the fear of what he would do to his mother, to Jen, to Jen's family because, remember Will doesn't know who Black Lightning is.

So, that also makes him very respectful as well. I think, the other thing about it though, is if there's a respect that comes in there, I don't think he has a full respect for who this man is because this man represents everything he was trying to get away from.

Second episode of season one, I'm talking to Jen and I tell her you know, I've been through this before, my brother was shot and killed. My father he's in prison. I come from this lifestyle that rappers rap about and he knows the source of that, and the source of that being Tobias, but you see he's not putting himself in a situation that he can't get out of. He's found himself and that has to do with choices. Nobody told him that he'd have to take those legs back. He was naive enough to do so. Because he was in a frail, fragile state. So in this section of his life when he's more so around Tobias where he's seeing what Tobias is showing him and he's learning from Tobias.

He's realizing more and more that he is in a deep abyss that he's crawling to get out of. He's looking for that way, whatever opening he has to get out of it. That's what he wants because he knows he can't go any further, deeper into it. So he does have a respectful fear because he knows what this man is but I don't think he respects the man.

Can you talk about what its like to act opposite Marvin as Tobias?

Calloway: That's funny because Marvin is, he's one of the most lovely people you will ever have the pleasure of meeting. Okay, he's one of the most loving people that you would meet. And to be able to work with. That's like the big bro. So being able to act opposite of him. Thank God he knows how to transform and he has acting chops where will put the fear of God in you as well. So, it's just a blast! It's such a blast that's all it is.

---

Season 2 of Black Lightning airs on The CW Tuesday nights at 9pm.