11 Most Anticipated Comic Book TV Shows Coming In 2018

11. Black Lightning

CW

As far as lightning-based heroes go, DC have got pretty much all their bases covered. Not only do they have Static - the legendary Milestone creation of the early nineties - but Black Lighting as well, with the latter set to mark his live-action debut later this month.

Airing on The CW but not in the Arrowverse itself (a blessing in disguise, really), Black Lightning will centre around the DC hero as he emerges from retirement, promising to be a melodrama as much as it will a typical superhero series. The concept of following a retired superhero dusting off their costume has led to many successes over the years (Watchmen and the Incredibles the two most acclaimed examples), but we're yet to see that on the small screen, nor have we in a show centred around the mainstream DCU itself.

Created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden in 1977, Jefferson Pierce is able to boast a fine history in print, having held multiple tenures at the Justice League and other teams throughout his costumed career. He's never really made the leap to other mediums though, so the show is important for several reasons.

Serving as a springboard for one of the DCU's best and brightest characters, Black Lightning has a whole lot on its shoulders. Should it succeed, we should expect more Black Lightning elsewhere.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.