Trivia / Static Shock

• Acting for Two: Phil LaMarr voices both Static and Green Lantern.
• Actor Allusion:
  • In the Pilot, one of the outfits Virgil tries on looks similar to Black Vulcan. Phil LaMarr (who provided the voice for Virgil) had a recurring role as Black Vulcan on Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law.
  • When Virgil catches Richie playacting at superheroics, he tries to apologize for laughing by saying, "Sometimes I still pretend to be Green Lantern." During the show's run, Phil LaMarr concurrently voiced the Green Lantern John Stewart on Justice League.
  • Neil Patrick Harris plays a washed up child actor (keep in mind, this was prior to his career comeback in How I Met Your Mother).
• Creator Backlash:
  • Dwayne McDuffie hated the "Hoop Squad" episode, calling it a "trainwreck."
  • McDuffie wasn't happy about "Where the Rubber Meets the Road" including Thomas Edison as an example of a gifted person who overcame dyslexia, stressing how he named his character Edwin Alva after Thomas Alva Edison as a Take That! to how he stole credit for the work of the black inventors he hired.
• The Other Darrin:
  • In a 2017 table read for the season 4 premiere, while Phil LaMarr still voices Static, Batman is voiced by Diedrich Bader instead of Kevin Conroy while Julie Nathanson voices Robin instead of Shane Sweet.
  • Brazilian Portuguese dub: in the episode "Future Shock", in comparison to Batman Beyond, Eduardo Dascar replaces Clécio Souto as Terry McGynnis, while Márcio Seixas (who voices mainstream, present-time Batman in the DCAU) replaces Roberto Macedo as Bruce Wayne's future self.
• Out of Order: The episodes "Consequences" and "Trouble Squared" were produced for Season 2, but didn't air on Kids' WB! until Season 3, which is why the episodes have the original art style of the first two seasons, Static dons his original uniform, Richie does not appear as Gear, and Daisy has her old look.
• Playing Against Type: Richard Steven Horvitz, best known as Billy and Zim, plays a more serious role as the bullying victim Jimmy.
• Promoted Fanboy:
  • Lil' Romeo was a fan of the show before he became a Special Guest in "Romeo in the Mix" and sang the theme song for Seasons 3 and 4.
  • Shaquille O'Neal was a fan of the original Static comics before being approached for "Static Shaq".
• Role Reprise: Will Friedle, who provided the voice for Terry McGinnis in Batman Beyond, would reprise the role in the season four premiere "Future Shock", as did Kevin Conroy for Bruce Wayne/Batman.
• Technology Marches On: The series was made in the early 2000s and it shows: No one has smart phones or, heck, the majority of the populace don’t even have standard cell phones yet, DVDs and CDs are frequently referenced, MP3 players are still a recent commodity, flatscreens weren't a thing yet so computers and TVs are still CRT models and some characters even still use VHS.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Originally, they wanted Static to team-up with Black Lightning. But rights complications got in the way — hence the Expy Soul Power instead.
  • They wanted Wonder Woman to show up, but the legal issues surrounding her character interfered.^note Which is also why Wonder Girl only made a Freeze-Frame Bonus cameo in Teen Titans (2003).
  • A Licensed Game based on the cartoon was planned to be released in 2002 for the Game Boy Advance, but was cancelled for unknown reasons. The fact that the game was advertised in magazines suggests it may have been cancelled at the last minute.
  • The episode "Toys in the Hood" was going to feature Icon in a cameo as an action figure, but they instead changed the figure to a generic robot.
  • The episode "Hard as Nails" was originally intended to feature Killer Croc or Bane coming to Dakota to recruit a gang of meta-humans, though the plot was ultimately scrapped due to feeling too similar to previous episodes of both Batman: The Animated Series and Static Shock.
• Word of Gay: According to Dwayne McDuffie, Richie is gay. McDuffie said that he hinted at this fact through Richie's overly-enthusiastic statements to the contrary.

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