One of the many announcements from the 2020 DC Fandome (remember those?) was the news of a Static Shock movie coming from producer Michael B. Jordan, based on the African-American teenage hero Virgil Hawkins. Since then, DC has gone through several permutations and is now DC Studios, run by James Gunn and Peter Safran. While many project announcements have been made since the new studio’s formation, Static Shock was not one of them. While doing press for Superman , Gunn was asked specifically about the status of the Static Shock movies, and he didn’t have good news.
Here’s what he told Pay or Wait via Collider about what was going on with Static Shock and his movie:
No updates on Static Shock. There are a lot of complexities behind this character right now, so I don’t have good news for you on Static Shock.
So, what exactly is the wait? Static Shock is better known than many DC properties receiving films and shows, and he even had a four-season animated series on TV. Unfortunately, there’s a ton of legal red tape when it comes to Static. The character was originally part of Milestone Comics, a separate imprint created by several prominent African-American creators in 1993. Other comics included Icon and Hardware. Although they sold well, Milestone fell victim to the comic book crisis of the 1990s, which saw sales plummet and comic book stores close across the country.
Eventually, Milestone stopped publishing its comics and licensed its characters to DC, which originally published the line in 1993. However, Milestone still owns the actual IP. In 2000, Static Shock became the star of his own animated series, introducing the character to millions of children. He even appeared in several episodes of Justice League Unlimited , where his co-creator, Dwayne McDuffie, was a writer/producer. Sadly, McDuffie passed away in 2011. In the following years, Milestone licensed its characters to DC, allowing them to be incorporated into the larger DC universe. This allowed Static Shock to join the Teen Titans and other notable heroes in appearing in Young Justice .
So, what’s the legal red tape? Well, a few years after McDuffie’s death, creators Denys Cowan, Reginald Hudlin, and Derek Dingle announced a major relaunch of Milestone Media. This led to McDuffie’s widow, Charlotte Fullerton, filing a lawsuit against the Milestone trio for failing to include McDuffie’s estate in the new plans. And as a result, Static Shock has remained shelved as an estate ever since. This is why the Michael B. Jordan Static Shock movie never got off the ground. If a star of his caliber can’t cut through the legal red tape, it could be years before Static Shock appears on screen or in a DCU film. And that truly feels like a missed opportunity.
