Hosea Chanchez Joins ‘Black Lightning’ Cast


During his time on BET’s The Game, Hosea Chanchez quickly became the playboy/mama’s boy everyone loved to hate. Now, it seems the actor is taking his acting skills to the DC Comics universe as supervillain Shakedown on CW’s Black Lightning, according to a report from Deadline.

When he isn’t operating as his super alter ego, Chanchez will play Marcus Bishop, a secret ASA operative, who teams up with former jailbird Dr. Helga Jace, played by Jennifer Riker. As Shakedown, Bishop has the power to generate vibrations and frequencies whenever and wherever he pleases. Bishop is reportedly “irreverent, bitter, and impulsively violent.” He also killed his superior officer in a fit of rage after being passed over for promotion.

Black Lightning is “produced by Berlanti Productions and Akil Productions in association with Warner Bros TV,” and tells the story of DC superhero Black Lightning, played by Cress Williams. When he isn’t donning his superhero outfit and fighting crime, Black Lightning is Jefferson Pierce, a family man and high school principal. As Black Lightning, Pierce fiercely protects his family and his community, which has been overrun by gang violence, while trying to bring his father’s killer to justice.

As the series goes on, viewers learn that both Pierce’s daughters, Anissa and Jennifer, played by Nafessa Williams and China Anne McClain, also possess superhuman abilities. Viewers are also constantly being introduced to new guest stars and reoccurring stars, including RJ Cyler as Todd Green, as previously reported by the Inquisitr.

The show is executive produced by Salim Akil, Mara Brock Akil, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Charles D. Holland, and Jan Nash.

The addition of a new villain shouldn’t come as a surprise, as show-runner Akil previously told reporters that Season 2 of the series would definitely feature more metahumans and not all of them would be good guys.

“You know, one of the things I was saying about the upcoming season is that we’re doing is I want to give a nod to comic books in a stronger way,” Akil said, according to Comic Book.

Chanchez has been cast as a reoccurring character on the show, which means his story will likely span across several episodes and based on his character’s description, Shakedown will probably become a major threat to Black Lightning and his family, especially with Dr. Jace on his side.

The actor’s previous credits include several TV movie roles, including a lead role in Regina King’s directorial debut Let the Church Say Amen for BET and Down for Whatever for TV One. He will also be seen in Fanatic, which will air in February on BET, according to Deadline.

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