There have been rumors circulating for a while that Jaden Smith would be portraying the role of Static Shock for Warner Bros., although the medium in which he would be playing him has not been clear (the idea of a web series was thrown around at one point).
The speculation has been given a bit of credibility due to an interview with The Walking Dead and Everybody Hates Chris’s Tyler James Williams. While discussing black superheroes on film in a recent interview, Williams had this today:
“But you know it’s great to see that Static Shock is happening with Jaden.”
There haven’t been a lot of young black super heroes in comics, nor are there that many young black actors of note, so it’s not surprising that Smith’s name has been bounced around for the role. But it’s very possible that Williams source for this information was the internet rumor mill, so we’ll take anything he says with a grain of salt.
Static first appeared in 1993 as one of the titles published by Milestone Comics, an imprint of DC Comics. It was eventually developed into an animated series, and the character also went on to appear in Justice a League Unlimited and Batman Beyond, before becoming a regular in the DC Comics Universe.