Black Lightning episode 9, "The Book of Little Black Lies," hints at the answer to a question comic book fans have been dying to know since day one: Which Earth is Black Lightning on? This article contains spoilers.
Tonight's episode mentions Vixen. Both versions, Mari and Amaya, are from Earth-1, the same Earth as Arrow and The Flash. After learning she has powers too, Black Lightning's youngest daughter Jennifer makes a joke about the budding superhero family. Speaking with her mother, she says, "Not unless you came in here to tell me you're Vixen."
Lynn responds jokingly, "No I'm not Vixen, or Supergirl." Jennifer being aware of Vixen suggests the series could actually take place in the Arrowverse, an overarching term that represents the multiverse where The Flash, Supergirl, Legends and Arrow take place. However, there's also a possibility Vixen was mentioned as a comic book character within the Black Lightning universe, just like Supergirl was earlier this season in Grace Choi's first scene. Vixen became an official member of the Arrowverse when the character (who has two seasons of an animated series on CW Seed) made her live-action debut in Arrow Season 4. The Vixen animated series takes place in Earth-1 Detroit during the same timeline as Arrow.
This is the second Supergirl name drop so far. As fans of Arrow and The Flash know, Supergirl actually takes place in National City on Earth-38. The Arrowverse is known to explore parallel Earths with doppelganger versions of familiar faces (we've seen like, too many versions of Harrison Wells). If Vixen and Supergirl are more than just comic book characters within the show, situating Black Lightning on a random parallel Earth where other versions of Supergirl and Vixen exist makes the most sense at this point, especially considering showrunners have stated many times the series does not take place in the Arrowverse. However, we'll have to wait for more clues to see if the writers' plans have changed since last year. If Black Lightning does somehow end up on Earth-1, Lynn could know about Supergirl because of the "Crisis On Earth X" crossover. It's possible the incident received national attention, and Lynn might have just seen Supergirl and Vixen on the news.
The city of Freeland doesn't give us any hints, either. It's a completely fictional city in Georgia, instead of Metropolis where Black Lightning lives in the comics. Showrunners Mara Brock and Salim Akil also said there's no chance of any crossovers happening in the near future, suggesting Black Lightning is indeed a standalone series on some random Earth. Part of what makes Black Lightning special is that it's its own thing, separate from The CW's increasingly dry superhero shows. However, statements about Black Lightning's universe feel less impactful in light of these repeated nods and the character's participation in the "Suit Up" trailer alongside The Flash, Arrow and other CW heroes.
Black Lightning does have interesting ties to Superman in the comic books, and those connections make an intriguing case for Earth-38. Superman (and Jimmy Olsen) is actually the first superhero who appears in Tony Isabella's 70s run with Black Lightning. It would be very cool to see Black Lightning exist on Earth-38, with Superman and Supergirl, instead of Earth-1 alongside pretty much every other hero. It would also allow the series some space away from the rest of the Arrowverse's shenanigans, while still being in the loop.
Elsewhere in the episode, we also learn how Jefferson got his powers. Lynn confirms they were not passed down through genetics, which means Jefferson probably got the 'Green Light' spinoff vaccine that inadvertently gave some children in the Freeland area superhuman powers. Gambi even says one child he remembers hunting down for the ASA is still alive. This presents an interesting opportunity to have more powered characters on the series in future episodes.
Another surprising element is Jennifer's disinterest in becoming a hero. She's scared she'll never find love and be seen as a freak. She was very emotional when her mother expressed uncertainty about how being a metahuman affects fertility. This power discovery scene was far from the average and certainly puts the breaks on the superhero family storyline.
Do you have any theories about where Black Lightning takes place? Why mention Supergirl and Vixen if the series isn't at least open to the Arrowverse down the line? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Autumn Noel Kelly started as a staff writer for Newsweek in 2015. She covers anything in the comic book world—TV ... Read more
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