“Black Lightning” star Marvin Jones says that The CW show’s focus on issues like race and police corruption mirrors what’s currently going on in the United States.
“It is a direct reflection of what is happening in our world around us right now,” Jones said in a recent interview with TheWrap. “I think it’s a conversation that needs to be had. From whatever background you may come from in life, it’s something that should be talked about: these issues of race, police brutality and, you know, indifference in the community.”
“I think that it’s something we should make the world speak about and face on, and hopefully come to some sort of solution,” he continued. “And if we can create the dialogue through entertainment, why not? Let’s do it.”
The show has portrayed marches for justice, gun violence and tackles issues of race identity through Jones’ character, who is an African American living with albinism, something that makes him relatable to viewers who also grew up with “challenges.”
Jones, also known as the rapper Krondon, added that he was drawn to playing the villain of “Black Lightning” because “we all have a little inside of us.”
“I think it’s every actor’s dream to play a villain. It’s a fun thing to do,” he said. “We all have a little [villain] inside of us, I think, that we suppress on a daily basis with choices we make. To play that — to not actually be that — but to play it on television is great.”
Jones said that Tobias is a particularly relatable character, evil though he may be.
“And in truth, [Tobias] is a different type of villain. He’s very unique and very human,” he said. “His experience is very human, and it’s relatable to those I think that come up with challenges that they didn’t necessarily ask for… and how that bias can eventually turn into a problem.”
Jones concluded by saying if he could battle one other superhero besides Black Lightning, it would be Batman.
“‘Cause if you follow Tobias Whale, you know that Tobias Whale came up in some of the Batman comics,” he said. “Through my research for Tobias Whale, that came up for me, and I was so, like, stoked about that.”
Watch the full interview above, and you can watch Jones in “Black Lightning” on The CW Tuesdays at 9 p.m.