BLACK PANTHER VS BLACK LIGHTNING!

It's not a trend or even a coincidence. Hollywood's had a history of using the same idea in two films in the same year.
Remember Deep Impact and Armageddon in 1998? How about Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down in 2013? Or Dante's Peak and Volcano in 1997? The Prestige and The Illusionist in 2006...

Sometimes they even come with distinct socio-political-paradigm flavors expressed by the subtle themes and values of it's characters. The most obvious example is Olympus Has Fallen vs White House Down.
OhF had a strong, authoritative white President besieged by a North Korean plot (externalized foe), and the movie itself is brutally violent, with innocent people being mowed down by machine gun fire; the film trying to convey fear and bewilderment into the viewer.
Meanwhile, WHD has a fun and relatable, but still strong, black President besieged by a white supremacist terror group (internalized foe), and the movie is for-the-most-part light heated and fun, with innocent people merely being held hostage until they're rescued in the end.

You can tell there are generally right wing values being expressed in OhF and left wing in WHD. Other film-idea duos have a similar contrast, although not as politically charged as these two. When you watch Black Panther and Black Lightning, look for thematic and moral differences expressed between the two.

I haven't watched Black Lightning.

What about greased lightning?

author=dorien1010
I would have to say black dynamite is the best one

My mummy said that my daddys name was Black Dynamite.

No No No

Pink Panther Vs. Black Panther

author=Dudesoft
Black Lightning is an old property that has faded into obscurity.
The similarity in names is simply due to the times it was created. Black Panther went through many renaming until they finally just stuck with Black as the first word. A lot of characters had the word Black before their second word. It is a comic book coincidence that two characters have a spotlight on them at the same time. It could have been Black Cat, Black Canary, Black Bolt, Black Bird, Black Widow, Blackout, etc.

Don't forget Black Racer


"the Black Racer. He was the New Gods' cosmic God of Death…and he rode around space on skis. To be fair, the living embodiment of super-death riding through space on galactic skis is no less ridiculous than a silver, naked man flying through the stars on a surfboard whose job it is to tell people their planet is about to be eaten. But for whatever reason, the Silver Surfer is cool, and the Black Racer…isn't.

Read More: http://www.looper.com/11861/characters-dc-stole-marvel/?utm_campaign=clip"