A Shock To Our Systems: Finally, the Static Shock Movie

IT’S HERE. WE CAN HAVE NICE THINGS.

Or rather, it will be here. In my Cyborg movie article (and pretty much every moment I could manage on social media ) I mentioned that I really, really, maybe kinda desperately wanted a Static Shock live action movie. ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE, Y’ALL!

According to a recent press release reported by several, news, outlets, Warner Bros.’ short-form digital division, officially named Blue Ribbon Content, will be working on several other exciting new projects as well including Mortal Kombat and a Batman: The Animated Series  “interactive holographic video for virtual reality devices” (THE FUTURE IS NOW). And it GETS BETTER! The incredible artist and producer of the Static Shock animated series, Denys Cowan, will be working with executive producer Reginald Hudlin, so you know the material will turn out nothing like a certain comic book we would all like to forget.

 

 

For those of you who don’t understand why I am FREAKING OUT right now, let me remind you that for many people in my generation the Static Shock animated series is one of, if not THE defining cartoon of our childhoods. Starring teenage black nerd Virgil Hawkins (who was named for a black man whose fight to be admitted to the University of Florida’s law school led to its desegregation, so, um, wow), Static was awesome because it dealt with gang violence, racism, the pressures of living in a single parent home (HOORAY FOR POSITIVE PORTRAYALS OF BLACK FATHERHOOD), and so many more real life issues in a surprisingly honest and not at all Saturday morning cartoon kind of way. This series was full of people of color and minorities of all kinds including (even though it wasn’t explicitly revealed in the cartoon as it was in the comics)  a queer superhero in the form of Virgil’s best friend, Richie/Gear. You basically could not ask for a better poster child of how much diversity matters in comics and cartoons.

Of course, as with all nice things we’re not used to having, there’s a catch. Rumors are that this role might be filled by one infamously “enlightened” Jaden Smith, and, well… At least we have the movie, right? …right? Well, it can’t be any worse than Transformers.