DC TV Watch: Burning Questions ‘Black Lightning’ Needs to Answer in Season 3

Welcome back to The Hollywood Reporter‘s weekly DC TV Watch, a rundown of all things DC Comics on the small screen. Every Saturday, we round up the major twists, epic fights, new mysteries and anything else that goes down on The CW’s Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Black Lightning and new series Batwoman. This week, let’s take a look at all the burning questions that need answers next season on Black Lightning.

Black Lightning season three burning questions

Will Freeland turn into a war zone? | The season two finale ended on quite a fascinating tease for season three. What appeared to be a peaceful Pierce family dinner turned into an ominous warning from Agent Odell (Bill Duke). First, he revealed he knew all about Jefferson’s (Cress Williams) secret identity and his family of metahuman superheroes. And second, the sovereign nation of Markovia, filled with powerful metahumans, now perceives Freeland as a metahuman threat. They’re gearing up to invade. And with a stockpile of pod metahumans at their disposal, Markovia is more than capable of doing some real destruction. Is Freeland going to turn into a war zone? Who will survive a military assault? 

Will Jefferson’s secret identity come out? | If the Markovians are more than just brute strength, they’ll realize the way to defeat Freeland is by taking down their main protector: Black Lightning. And the way to defeat a superhero isn’t through a knockdown, drag-out fight (although that does help), but rather in exposing his secrets. Take away Black Lightning’s anonymity and you’ve taken away his biggest ally. Will Jefferson’s secret come out either through the Markovians or through Agent Odell?

How will Jennifer and Anissa join the fight? | For the past two seasons, fans have watched as Jefferson’s daughters Jennifer (China Anne McClain) and Anissa (Nafessa Williams) developed metahuman powers and became superheroes alongside their father. Jennifer only suited up for the first time in the season two finale, however, and still has a long way to go in learning how to be a responsible hero. As advanced as Anissa is, she still has a lot to learn as well. How will their journeys towards becoming the heroes they’re fated to be in the comics develop in season three? Will Jefferson allow his daughters to be his partners or will they be his sidekicks?

What will happen to Tobias? | Tobias Whale (Marvin “Krondon” Jones III) has been the big bad of Black Lightning for the entire series so far. But he was finally defeated in the season two finale and locked away in “The Pit,” a government black site that uses power dampening technology to hold the worst of the worst. Will Tobias remain there? Or will he find a way to break out and continue wreaking havoc not only on Freeland, but on the Pierce family as well? Or will the show introduce a new big bad in the Markovians instead?

Is Khalil still alive? | Agent Odell is great at keeping secrets. As fans learned in the season two finale, he’s been keeping the body of Khalil (Jordan Calloway) in a secret facility all this time. So did Khalil really die? Or is this a clone of him? What will happen when Odell wakes him up and releases him? How will Jennifer react to seeing him again?

Will Dr. Jace return as a captive of the Markovians? | Dr. Jace (Jennifer Riker) tried to secure her safety by revealing key information to Jefferson and Lynn (Christine Adams), but the Pierces didn’t accept her pleas. After Lynn completely decked Jace in a badass move, they handed Jace over to the police. But she knew she wouldn’t be safe there and she was right: the Markovians used their teleporting metahuman to kidnap her. With the Markovians needing her mind, will she be back next season working for the enemy? Or could she be a double agent working to bring the Markovians down from the inside? She might actually be a great ally for the Pierces … if they can get over their hatred for her.

Will Black Lightning join the Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover? | Black Lightning isn’t in the Arrow-verse. We’ve known that for two years. But what if that changes during the upcoming Crisis crossover? It has been announced that the shows participating are Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman. But what if, in a surprise move, the merging of the multiverse brings Black Lightning into the Arrow-verse? If it worked in the comics, it can work on TV.

Looking ahead

Next week, we’re looking at new Arrow-verse series Batwoman and how it will connect to the larger shared comic book universe.

Note: Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow, The Flash and Black Lightning will all return next season, along with new DC TV series Batwoman, all on The CW.