Michael B. Jordan is boarding Warner Bros. and DC’s
Static Shock as a producer.
Jordan will join Reginald Hudlin on the feature project that was first
revealed during August's DC FanDome event. He will produce via Outlier Society, his Warners-based banner.
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The move jolts the project up a few kilowatts, giving the cult hero some firepower as it goes into active development.
“I’m proud to be a part of building a new universe centered around black superheroes; our community deserves that,” said Jordan in a statement to
The Hollywood Reporter. “Outlier Society is committed to bringing to life diverse comic book content across all platforms and we are excited to partner with Reggie and Warner Bros on this initial step.”
Outlier will be in the creative center of the
Static feature and for Jordan, a comic book fan, this is an opportunity for not only for some world-building but to be directly involved in franchise-building. Should the first movie spark a hit, a multi-platform franchise could be born.
The project centers on Static, who first appeared in 1993's
Static no. 1 via Milestone Comics, a now-defunct company founded by Black writers and artists to help make comics a more inclusive space and which had distribution through DC.
A decade later the hero was revived for the
Static Shock animated series, centering on Virgil Hawkins, a teenager who transforms into a superhero who gains electromagnetic powers after being exposed to strange gas.
The series was noteworthy for being the rare animated show to be headlined by a Black character. The hero made his way to the mainstream DC Comics universe in 2008.
DC is relaunching Milestone with Hudlin, now a partner in the label, at the center of it. He is writing an all-new
Static Shock digital comic series beginning in Feb. 2021, as well as an additional
Static Shock graphic novel by Hudlin, with art by Kyle Baker. A series reviving Icon and Rocket, by Hudlin and Milestone founder Denys Cowan, are also in the works.
Jordan, who starred with Chadwick Boseman in the pop cultural phenomenon
Black Panther, last starred and produced the legal drama
Just Mercy and performs the same duties on
Without Remorse, a thriller due out from Amazon next year. He next shoots and produces
A Journal for Jordan, a drama to be directed by Denzel Washington.
Jordan is repped by WME, M88 and attorney Greg Slewett.
