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Reginald Hudlin Says ‘Static Shock’ Movie In Development – DC Fandome
Editorial Director/Box Office Editor
August 22, 2020 2:10pm
Today during a surprise DC Fandome panel about Milestone Media, Oscar nominated filmmaker Reginald Hudlin revealed that a Static Shockmovie was in development as part of DC’s revitalizing the imprint which is devoted to African American voices.
No other specific details or talent attachments were unveiled about the Static Shock movie, but Hudlin is involved with expanding the creative franchise that is Milestone Media, which launched in 1993 known for superheros like Icon, Rocket and Static Shock. Milestone’s return to publishing will be led by an all-new Static Shock digital comic series scheduled for February 2021. Future offerings will include a Static Shock original graphic novel written by Hudlin with art by Kyle Baker, plus the return of Milestone heroes Icon & Rocket, also written by Hudlin with art by Cowan and more to be announced.
“We’re talking with other divisions at Warner Bros, even those in animated about doing (Milestone Media) feature films, and we’re also involved in extending the Milestone characters into new media, like podcasts with a series of stories on podcast. We want to deliver Milestone Media on whatever platform you want,” said Hudlin.
Static Shock follows a teenage boy, Virgil Hawkins, in the city of Dakota with electricity based powers, who with the help of his inventive friend, fights crime as a superhero. After walking into an area where chemical containers explode, Hawkins is mutated, gaining powers to create, generate, absorb, and control electricity and magnetism.
Static Shock was an early 2000 animated series based on the comic-book that aired the WB Television network’s WB programming block.
Said Phil LaMarr, who voiced Static Shock on the animated series, and was also on today’s panel, “Virgil is what I always wanted as a comic book kid growing up: Black Spider-Man. A good (comic-book) story can make you live it, feel it, and when it does, it resonates on a whole other level. It was so real world, and a textured story removed from the 1930s ‘We are exhibiting the world’. I felt like it was drawn by somebody who lived in a building I could go into. It touched on archetypes as a comic fan that I loved, but also touched on my life as a Black man in the real world.”
Hudlin and LaMarr were also joined by DC Milestone Media co-founder Denys Cowan, DC Publisher and Chief Creative Officer Jim Lee and moderator Marc Bernardin on today’s panel.
Beginning in September through February 2021, DC will digitize classic stories from the Milestone library and make them available for purchase at Comixology, Amazon Kindle, Apple and other participating digital retailers. A list of titles will be announced shortly.
On the second part of DC Fandome on Sept. 12, fans will gain access to Milestone Returns #0, a 17-page sampler, which will be available to read free for 24 hours. Written by Hudlin with Greg Pak and cover by Denys Cowan and Chris Sotomayor, the sampler will introduce and re-introduce fans to Milestone characters such as Static Shock, Icon, Rocket, Duo and others. The sampler features art by an incredible lineup of Talent, including Cowan, Jim Lee, Ryan Benjamin, Khoi Pham, Scott Hanna, Bill Sienkiewicz, Don Ho, Alex Sinclair and Deron Bennett.