Static Shock Live-Action Movie Announced at DC Fandome with Director Reginald Hudlin
Static Shock #StaticShock
A Static Shock movie is officially in the works. The reveal came as part of this weekend’s massive DC FanDome event, which is bringing with it lots of news and surprises centering on all things DC. Filmmaker Reginald Hudlin took part in a surprise panel about Milestone Media, which is an imprint of DC devoted to African American voices. Hudlin then dropped the big news.
During the DC Fandome panel, Reginald Hudlin, who directed movies such as House Party and Boomerang, confirmed that Static Shock is being developed as a theatrical feature at Warner Bros. No further details were revealed at this time. Here’s what Hudlin had to say about it.
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“One of the things we’re really excited about, we really want to live up to the name of the company, Milestone Media. 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.”
The panel focused on Milestone Media being revitalized within the DC structure. As part of that, some of the characters associated with the imprint will be developed in other forms of media outside of the comics. Speaking further, Reginald Hudlin had this to say.
“What we’re talking about is unbelievable. 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 series of stories that will be available on podcasts. We will deliver Milestone Media wherever you are, on whatever platform you want.”
Static Shock was created by Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis and Derek T. Dingle. The character first appeared in Static #1 in 1993. Virgil Hawkins/Static gained more popularity in the mainstream thanks to the Static Shock animated series, which debuted in 2000. Airing on Kids WB, the series ran for four seasons and 52 episodes. Phil LaMarr, who voiced the character in the show, also took part in the panel. He joked about being able to play the role in the movie, if Martin Scorsese got involved.
“For that movie, talk to Scorsese for me, would you? They got the technology, I could play 14.”
Reginald Hudlin was instrumental in reviving Milestone Media in 2015. As far as other Static Shock projects go, the character will return in a digital comic book series which is set to arrive in February 2021. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as further details on the movie are made available. In the meantime, you can keep up with all of the happenings as they happen live over at official DCFanDome.com website.