CW to make history with first black lesbian superhero

Nafessa Williams as Anissa Pierce aka Thunder. Twitter photo.

Black Lightning, a show coming to The CW on January 16, features the title character as a father to two daughters: Thunder and Lightning. 

And it’s Thunder, played by 28-year-old Nafessa Williams, who is set to make history.

The superhero, whose real name in the show is Anissa Pierce, is “timely and necessary,” according to Williams.

"I didn't have a black superhero to look up to as a little girl," Williams said.

Related:
Cinema's first out gay superhero faces his greatest challenge
Marvel's first Latinx LGBT+ superhero is coming to the big screen
Russel Tovey to play superhero The Ray

Thunder will be the first black lesbian superhero as a lead character in a major network release.

Williams said she and the rest of the cast and crew are hoping that this show will help offer something more than just entertainment.

"What we are striving for is just to bring hope that we can make a change within our country."

Just like in the comics, Thunder will have a love interest.

Played by Pretty Little Liars actress Chantal Thuy, the half-Amazonian, Asian-American Grace Choi will feature in the show as Anissa’s girlfriend.

In the comics, Grace is bisexual, and there seems to be no reason to doubt she will be in the show as well.

Information gathered from this article

The Gayly 1/15/2018 @ 11:31 a.m.