Credit: Warner Bros.This hero could make or break the DCU…
James Gunn has been supremely confident since being installed as co-CEO with Peter Safran at DC Studios. This confidence, however, may have been shaken by the recent dismal performance of Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023), not to mention the poor performance from Marvel Studios and the poor predictions for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), the entire superhero genre needs a boost, and maybe this new character is it!
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Gunn isn’t doing away with the classics by any means. As part of the first chapter of the new DC Universe, the director and co-CEO announced three major projects centered on three DC comic staples: Superman: Legacy (2025), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (?) and a Wonder Woman-centric series called Paradise Lost. However, he won’t be sticking solely to these staples.
As part of this first chapter, entitled Gods and Monsters, Gunn also announced the introduction of several obscure DC characters that have either never been on the big screen or have seldom been featured, like Swamp Thing and Creature Commandos. It could well be that Gunn is banking on these characters and characters like them to bolster the mainstream and add a bit more variety to what people see from DC Studios.
Of course, there are plenty of characters in the DC catalog to choose from, and plenty that fans would love to see take part in the DC Universe, even in the new DC Elseworlds offerings, and now it seems like James Gunn has confirmed at least one of these characters is on his way to DC prominence! Comicbook recently reported on the interaction between a fan and Gunn in which the exciting news was revealed!
So, who’s the mystery hero in question? The 1993 hero Static, of course! The fan asked Gunn if DC had any plans to bring the hero and others like him from the Milestone Comics line to life in cinema, and Gunn simply responded, “Yes.” Though he had a successful run in the early 2000s as an animated cartoon, seeing a live-action representation of Static Shock/Virgil Hawkins would be a game changer for the franchise.
Milestone Comics has a number of other characters that could be a huge boon to DC as well, as the entire organization was designed to create superhero stories for marginalized and underrepresented minorities within the genre. This would be a natural way to increase visibility within not only DC but the genre as a whole, along with introducing fans to some lesser-known characters.
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With Static being the most well-known Milestone character, it’s a safe bet that he will be one that Gunn and Safran bring to the big screen or streaming, with other heroes likely following behind. It could be that the inclusion of the character means big things for the Teen Titans as well, as he was a member of the team for a time in the comics. No matter what, big things are coming for the DC Universe!
What do you think about this news? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments below!