Static Shock: All About The New Live-Action Movie
Here's the lowdown on the Static Shock movie.
This article is more than 2 years old
Warner Bros. has greenlit a live-action Static Shock movie and while details are few at the moment, there are some to be had. Here’s what we know about the project that is in development.
CREED IS HANDLING THE STATIC SHOCK MOVIE
The Static Shock movie is being brought to life by Michael B. Jordan, who most people know as Creed from the Rocky spin-off movies and Erik Killmonger in Black Panther. Jordan is using his Outlier Society shingle to produce the film and is no stranger to comic book fare with the aforementioned Black Panther as well as his take on Johnny Storm in the 2015 reboot Fantastic Four and also his executive producing title as well as acting in the Netflix series Raising Dion, a series that told the story of a single mother who discovers that her son has superpowers and the issues she has with trying to raise her son safely and more importantly, responsibly.
As for Jordan’s involvement with the Static Shock movie, he had this to say to The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m proud to be a part of building a new universe centered around black superheroes; our community deserves that,” said Jordan in a statement. “Outlier Society is committed to bringing to life diverse comic book content across all platforms and we are excited to partner with Reggie [Hudlin] and Warner Bros on this initial step.”
THANK YOU, REGGIE
Along with Michael B. Jordan, another big name attached to the Static Shock movie is the abovementioned Reginald Hudlin, who is on board to help Jordan with the producing duties. While Hudlin does have past writing (House Party franchise, Bébé’s Kids) and directing (Modern Family, New Girl, Uncle Buck) experience, it is expected that Hudlin will only be producing Static Shock.
WHO’S HOLDING THE PEN FOR THE STATIC SHOCK MOVIE?
Just recently it was announced that Randy McKinnon has been brought on to write the script for the Static Shock movie. McKinnon’s background includes the feature Where the Water Runs and two series, the Netflix horror series Chambers and Grand Army. He is also the writer of the Disney+ movie Safety, a true story that follows a Clemson University freshmen football player who ends up raising his little brother on the college campus because his home life was so horrible.
TOO EARLY TO TELL
As the Static Shock movie is just starting to get its legs, there hasn’t been a director announced. For this reason, Jordan and Hedlin have not chosen the star who will become Virgil Hawkins/Static. Jordan has no plans on becoming the superhero nor does he have any plans in starring in the feature.
FIRST A COMIC
So, who exactly is the hero of Static Shock? The character first appeared back in the 1993 Milestone Comics Static, which was published by DC Comics. Given the past DC features, should this be a red flag? Let’s hope not. The comic revolves are an African American teenager, Virgil Hawkins, who was not born with his superpowers, but arrives at them via an incident that exposes him to a radioactive chemical. The incident allows Virgil electromagnetic control and generation. His character in the comics was key in bringing more diversity to a genre that saw very little of it in the past.
As Static continued throughout the ‘90s, he became part of the Justice League and the Teen Titans, among other superhero teams.
AND THEN AN ANIMATED SERIES
Static’s popularity wasn’t only confined to the pages of comic books, he was given his own animated series in 2000, Static Shock. The series ran for four seasons and was changed slightly to bring in a younger crowd. The character of Virgil Hawkins was also seen in the animated series Justice League Unlimited and Young Justice.
THE RELAUNCH
Milestone Media was launched back in 1993 but was unable to sustain enough interest to keep it afloat, which is why they eventually merged with DC. But it was Hudlin who, in a 2015 interview, said a relaunch of Milestone Media was in the works and with that, he would be penning new Static Shock stories. In February of this year, the new Static Shock digital comic book debuted.
Hudlin decided to revive Milestone when one of its co-founders Dwayne McDuffie suddenly passed away. As Hudlin said in that 2015 interview with the Washington Post, “He [McDuffie] was at a career peak. His life was hitting on all cylinders. … That is the tragedy of it.” Hudlin also noted that McDuffie “was a great comic writer and editor” and most definitely a very successful businessman who had the idea to launch “the first black comic-book company with Milestone Media, [creating] characters that have a huge cultural footprint.” Hudlin not only wanted to revive Milestone in order to celebrate and honor what McDuffie created but also to continue on what McDuffie started with his diverse approach to the comic-book industry.
So far, Hudlin is living up to his word as Milestone is back in action with its eye focused squarely on diverse storytelling.
WHAT IS THE RELEASE DATE FOR THE STATIC SHOCK MOVIE?
With details at a minimum, Jordan and Hedlin have not offered a release date for their Static Shock movie. One thing we do know is that the movie won’t be seen this year, which also means that the chances of Static Shock getting the big-screen treatment just went up substantially. Moviegoers are all too aware of Warner’s earlier announcement of releasing their entire 2021 movie slate simultaneously in theaters and HBO Max, as they should also be aware that Warner just came out and said their 2022 and beyond slate will premiere only in movie theaters.
