JORDAN CALLOWAY UPPED TO SERIES REGULAR AS DC VILLAIN PAINKILLER IN BLACK LIGHTNING SEASON TWO
“PREDICTION? PAIN!”
BURBANK, Calif. (July 21, 2018) — He may have saved Freeland in season one, but Black Lightning (Cress Williams) is in for a new season of pain when Jordan Calloway returns as DC villain Painkiller in the show’s sophomore season! Guest starring as Khalil Payne in season one, Calloway’s promotion to series regular was revealed by showrunner/executive producer Salim Akil during Black Lightning’s Comic-Con 2018 panel on Saturday, July 21.
Khalil Payne was a high school All-American track star with dreams of going to the Olympics until a stray bullet severed his spine, leaving him embittered and unable to walk. Black Lightning’s archnemesis Tobias Whale (Marvin “Krondon” Jones III) offers him legs for loyalty. Khalil accepts the offer and receives cybernetic enhancements that transform him into the Painkiller, meta-strong and able to generate an anesthetic from his body that causes temporary paralysis when delivered through darts. Now, he is a living weapon for a ruthless crime boss. Before long, he pines for his old life and dreams, and his teenaged love, Jennifer Pierce (China Anne McClain).
Fans at the Black Lightning panel were electrified with the news. Akil said, “I’m thrilled to have Jordan upped as a series regular. He was a great asset to our show in the role of Khalil/Painkiller during season one, and now that he has evolved into Painkiller, I can’t wait for you all to see him in season two.”
In addition to Black Lightning, Calloway’s credits include Beyond for Freeform, Riverdale for The CW, The Mick for FOX and Pure Genius for CBS.
Black Lightning returns for season two on Tuesday, October 9, at 9/8c on The CW. Based on the DC characters, the series is executive produced by Greg Berlanti, Salim Akil, Mara Brock Akil and Sarah Schechter. Black Lightning is produced by Berlanti Productions and Akil Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.
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To me James Remar (Gambi) will always be these two characters, both very convincing psycho killers: the monstrous Ganz in the movie 48 Hours and the gangster Dutch Schultz in the movie The Cotton Club (one of my favorite movies). I see that he's played many types of characters in movies and TV shows. According to IMDB, I've seen him numerous times to a variety of roles. If he's bland in Black Lightning it's because the character is supposed to be bland. He's definitely not a bad actor.
Well, he'll be back. To absolutely no one's surprise, Gambi will turn up alive either this week or next.
My DVR has season 2, episodes 6 through 16. I have no motivation to watch it anymore. Life is too short to watch things (or read things) that don't do anything for me. I'm zapping the episodes.
We picked up speed in this past month's superhero hiatus. I still really like the show, and think it's the best superhero show out there at handling drama. (As opposed to humor or adventure, although when BL wants to be funny, the joke usually lands -- more than I can say for Arrow, whose humor is almost always Trying Too Hard.) I've probably got 5 episodes left to go in this season.
Black Lightning returns on Monday, October 7.