Screenwriter Randy McKinnon hired to work on Warner Bros.’ ‘Static Shock’ film
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. Pictures has hired screenwriter Randy McKinnon (Safety) to work on the film adaptation of Milestone and DC Comics’ Static Shock.
The feature project is set to be produced by Michael B. Jordan via his WB-based banner Outlier Society alongside Emmy, Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Reginald Hudlin (Safety), with the latter having previously announced the film being in development last August. Jordan’s Outlier is currently set to be the main creative force behind the project, with the self-proclaimed major comic book fan and multi-hyphenate getting the opportunity to develop the multi-platform franchise around the cult favorite superhero the studio is hoping for.
Static, alter ego Virgil Hawkins, made his debut in the eponymous comic of the same name in 1993 from the now-defunct Milestone Comics, a publisher founded by Black writers and artists looking to create a more inclusive space. He later found larger stardom through the animated series Static Shock on Kids’ WB, in which he was voiced by Phil LaMarr and followed the story of the titular teenager transforming into a superhero after being exposed to a strange gas and gaining electromagnetic powers, and eventually made his way into the mainstream DC Comics line in 2008.
McKinnon was a staff writer on Netflix’s horror series Chambers that starred Uma Thurman and it was with the Disney+ film Safety that he earned his first feature credit. He is also the creator and executive producer of the sports thriller Wild Rabbit, set up at Hulu with Reinaldo Green directing. He is adapting Kwame Onwuachi's memoir, Notes from a Young Black Chef, for A24 with recently Oscar-nominated LaKeith Stanfield attached to star.