Not just a celebrated actor in his own right, Michael B. Jordan is keen to use his profile to create more opportunities for people of colour. Jordan has already featured in several movies with a strong social conscience, including Fruitvale Station, Black Panther and Just Mercy. And now he wants to address the racial balance within the movie industry itself.
Word has come in from The Hollywood Reporter that Jordan is producing Static Shock, a DC comic book movie that was first revealed during this year's FanDome event. Jordan will produce the movie through his Warner Brothers-based production label Outlier Society, and he hopes that it will be a positive first step towards a black superhero franchise.
“I’m proud to be a part of building a new universe centered around black superheroes; our community deserves that,” Jordan explained. “Outlier Society is committed to bringing to life diverse comic book content across all platforms and we are excited to partner with [Reginald Hudlin] and Warner Bros on this initial step.”
The Static series of graphic novels were initially developed through Milestone Comics, now defunct. Milestone was set up in 1993 as a creative collective for black artists, and the stories were distributed via DC. Central character Vigil Hawkins gained the ability to absorb and manipulate energy, eventually taking on the alter-ego known as 'Static'. Years later, the project spawned an animated series, and Static made his official DC Comics debut in 2008.
As part of this Static revival, the aforementioned Reginald Hudlin will spearhead new graphic novel entries in the series. These will go hand in the hand with the movie adaptation, which has yet to announce a director or other concrete production information. It's not yet clear if Jordan will himself appear in the film.
Are we potentially looking at the next great comic book franchise? Tweet us your thoughts @Cineworld.
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