He may have saved Freeland in the first season, but Black Lightning (Cress Williams) is in for a whole new world of pain when Jordan Calloway returns as DC villain Painkiller in the show's sophomore season. Guest starring as Khalil Payne in Season 1, Calloway's promotion to series regular was revealed by showrunner/executive producer Salim Akil during the Black Lightning San Diego Comic-Con 2018 panel today. This is definitely a welcome return by fans who wanted to see more of Painkiller in the DC show.

Black Lightning showrunner Salim Akil released a statement to announce that Jordan Calloway was being upped to a series regular in Season 2 at Comic-Con. Akil, like fans of the show, is extremely excited to see what Calloway is going to bring to the Painkiller role now that he's going to have some time to stretch out. Akil notes that the evolution to Painkiller is going to be something awesome to see in Black Lightning Season 2. He had this to say.

"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."

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 arch nemesis 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).

The first season of Black Lightning premiered in January of this year with 13 episodes and it was announced in April of this year that the show had been officially renewed for a second season. While isn't reinventing the wheel when it comes to superhero TV shows, it has gotten positive marks from fans and critics in its first season. The show is smart, and stands on its own as far as the attitude is concerned, which is about to get even crazier now that Painkiller is going to be the main antagonist.

Black Lightning returns for Season 2 on Tuesday, October 9th, at 9PM Pacific 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. You can check out the Comic-Con trailer below, thanks to The CW YouTube channel.