Shaquille O’Neal Weighs in on Michael B. Jordan Producing DC’s ‘Static Shock’ (Exclusive)

Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan is flexing his comic book muscles with a shift from the Marvel Universe to the DCU as a producer for the big-screen adaptation of Static Shock. The actor told The Hollywood Reporter he is “proud to be part of building a new universe centered around Black superheroes; our community deserves that.” But that pride isn’t just coming from Jordan as NBA legend, Shaquille O’Neal is ecstatic as well.

In an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, O’Neal expressed how “proud” he is of the California native and even expressed interest in being part of the project. “Michael B. Jordan is from my neighborhood. I’m very proud of him. He is doing big things in the industry,” the NBA Hall of Fame icon said. “I wish him well; I know it’s going to do well. I’ve been knowing him since he was a younger guy; very focused individual, and he likes putting out a good product, [he] likes doing the right thing. I’m sure he’s going to put his heart and soul into it. If he needs me to play a bad guy, I’m there.”

The 49-year-old is not kidding either: “I do. Yes, hook it up,” O’Neal stated when asked to confirm if he would be down for a role in the upcoming DC film. The movie centers around the character Static who follows a high school student by the name of Virgil Hawkins, who gains superhero powers after exposure to a strange gas that gives him electromagnetic powers. Jordan took to Twitter after the news was announced and kept his caption pretty simple with just two emojis: a lightning bolt and smirking face.

Phil LaMarr, who voiced Static in the animated series, explained during a DC FanDome panel that Static was the kind of superhero he wanted growing up. “Virgil is what I always wanted as a comic book kid growing up: Black Spider-Man. A good story can make you live it, feel it, and when it does, it resonates on a whole other level […] it touched on archetypes as a comic fan that I loved, but also touched on my life as a Black man in the real world,” he said according to EW.

While O’Neal expressed his excitement for Jordan, he did note to PopCulture that the superhero who changed everything for him was Superman. “I’ll tell you why, because [he] was the one that made me believe that I was more than human, especially when it comes to playing. When I played, I wanted to be abnormal, I wanted to be vastly different than everybody else,” he explained. Fans will remember O’Neals famous Superman bed that was featured on MTV Cribs in the early 2000s.

While the former professional athlete turned sports commentator is a huge fan of Marvel and DC films, he’s also into Esports and was proud to share the news that The General, a company he’s been the spokesperson for six years, has bought the naming rights for NRG’s Rocket League team, making it the first Rocket League naming rights agreement in the history of North America. Fans will be able to vote for the team’s jersey starting July 6 through July 20 on their official website, and the final jersey will be revealed in August.