Michael B. Jordan moving forward on Static Shock movie

Michael B. Jordan may not be in the running to play the next Superman, but the actor is still very much in the superhero business. For instance, he’s producing a movie based on Static Shock, the DC Comics series that ran for four seasons on Kids WB back in the early 2000s. “Right now we have a writer, Randy McKinnon, who’s putting together take and a draft right now, really excited,” he told Collider.

Static Shock is about Virgil Hawkins, a high schooler who gains the ability manipulate electromagnetism. Clearly, watching it had a big effect on Jordan. “I mean, again, as a kid growing up, watching Static Shock, it was something that inspired me,” he said. “And had that type of representation at a young age, it was really important to me. And I know it would be important to a lot of other kids today. So to be able to adapt the live-action version of that, I’m really, really excited about. So no real timelines, and I guess no real updates or anything like that. But we’re in the process of building that out. And I can’t wait to have something more to tell you guys later.”

The time Michael B. Jordan blew his audition for Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Knowing Michael B. Jordan’s pedigree, I’m sure the Static Shock movie will turn out a success. But not everything he touches turns to gold. Speaking on the podcast “Just for Variety with Marc Malkin,” he talked about auditioning for Star Wars: The Force Awakens back in the day and how badly it went.

“I think it was I couldn’t wrap my brain around some of the sides because you know when you’re reading for these high-level projects, there’s never really any specificity in the sides,” Jordan said of his audition for director J.J. Abrams. “Everything’s like super vague; everything is in secret. Reading through, I just couldn’t connect it. I definitely bombed that one for sure.”

Jordan is in good company where failed The Force Awakens auditions are concerned. Tom Holland bombed his attempt, too.  “I remember doing this scene with this lady, bless her, and she was just a drone,” the Spider-Man star remembered. “So I was doing all of this, like, ‘We gotta get back to the ship!’ And she was going, ‘Bleep, bloop bloop, bleep bloop.’ I just couldn’t stop laughing. I found it so funny. And I felt really bad, because she was trying really hard to be a convincing android or drone or whatever they’re called. Yeah, I obviously didn’t get the part. That wasn’t my best moment.”

Of course, the part these guys were auditioning for — Finn — eventually went to John Boyega, but all three guys made out pretty well.

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