During the DC FanDome panel, filmmaker Reginald Hudlin announced “serious conversations” about bringing Static Shock, the electric-powered teen hero to the big screen.
Virgil Hawkins, a.k.a. Static Shock, was created by Milestone Media and DC Comics in the 1990s and starred in a Kids’ WB animated series in the early 2000s. The series received multiple Daytime Emmy award nominations and is still highly regarded by fans for being one of the few superhero series starring a Black character.
“One of the things we’re really excited about, we really want to live up to the name of the company, Milestone Media,” said Hudlin. “When we spoke to Jim [Lee] about reviving the Milestone line, we said ‘Look, we all know this has been a hit comic book and hit animated series. It’s time to expand back into all those areas and then some.’ So we’re in serious conversations about, as we’re launching the comic book series, developing the ‘Static Shock’ movie. That will be a theatrical feature film.”
Hudlin also added other characters in the Milestone Media comic family may get projects in different forms.
“What we’re talking about is unbelievable,” Hudlin said. “We’re also talking to all the other divisions of Warner, for example, the animation department. They make those amazing animated feature films for home entertainment. And we’re talking about doing one of those feature films involving the Milestone characters. We’re also looking at new media, like podcasts, and doing a serious of stories that will be available on podcasts. We will deliver Milestone Media wherever you are, on whatever platform you want.”
Fellow panelist Phil LaMarr, who voiced Static Shock on the animated series, joked about who could direct the film and he could even return to the live-action role with some The Irishman-style de-aging technology.
“For that movie, talk to Scorsese for me, would you?” he said. “They got the technology, I could play 14.”
There were no other details given on Static Shock’s adaptation, but the character is becoming a digital comic book series in February 2021.
