"Future Shock" is the fourth season premiere of Static Shock, serving as a crossover with Batman Beyond. When helping Batman and Robin with a mission, Static ends up travelling 40 years into the future. He meets the future Batman, and despite the pair initially disliking each other, they are forced to work together to bring down the evil organization of Kobra and rescue one of Earth's greatest heroes: Static's future-self.
Plot
Static travels to Gotham City to help Batman and Robin capture a criminal named Timecode. The trio easily take down the gimmick villain and hand him over to the police. Batman confiscates Timecode's time machine and takes it back to the Batcave to study it. Upon fiddling with it, Batman activates the machine's internal power source, and by doing so, entraps him in its field. With Batman trapped, Static attempts to use his powers to retrieve him from the field but instead gets himself pulled in and sent over 40 years into the future.
Landing back in the Batcave, Static calls out for Batman and Robin, not knowing that he has just time traveled into the Batman Beyond era. Looking around the Batcave, Static is spotted by the future Batman and the two engage in a fight, only to be eventually stopped soon afterwards by an aged Bruce Wayne. As Bruce clears up what has happened to Static, and having expected this occurrence to one day happen, he requests Static's help in stopping Kobra's upcoming plan. With the recent capture of the Kobra Leader by Gotham police, Kobra retaliated by capturing a prisoner of their own in order to undertake a prisoner swap. Static's original reaction is just to go ahead with it as there doesn't seem to be another option, but Bruce rebuffs that idea and instead suggests they rescue Kobra's prisoner before the trade goes down. Bruce only manages to get Static on board with the idea when he informs him that Static's older self is the prisoner.
As Batman (Terry) and Static head out, Static is surprised at how successful he has become in the future, but Batman points out that would be his older self and reveals that he is along strictly as backup. Static is surprised but realizes that Batman is still upset from their previous fight in the Batcave, but Batman quickly denies his theory. Static further presses the issue, but Batman quickly changes the subject, warning Static that if something happens to him his future self might not exist. As they land, Static questions if anyone else is available to help them. Batman explains that Robin is now a civilian, the Justice League are out near Alpha Centauri, Gear is on the other side of the world, and much to Static's shock, Batman reveals that Static even has a son who also can't help them.
The duo head out onto the Gotham streets in casual clothing to go undercover. Virgil remembers most of it, but also witnesses a splicer walk by, experiencing more of the future. They approach the meeting point where Terry explains the plan is to use Bruce's contact as a way of possibly getting into Kobra. Terry instructs Virgil to wait for him while he goes to meet the contact and informs Virgil to not do anything that may risk erasing his own future. As Terry waits for the contact to arrive, Virgil seeks out help of his own.
Bringing Terry with him, Virgil's contact leads the duo into a secret lair where the mysterious person reveals himself and his friends to be Jokerz. A fight ensues but the duo easily takes care of the clowns and escape. While Virgil is happy that they were able to defeat them, Terry is less than happy as now thanks to Virgil, they missed their real opportunity and even admits that he can't comprehend how Virgil became one of the world's greatest heroes, which leaves Virgil both shocked and deeply hurt.
Meanwhile, the Gotham police warden makes his way towards the captured Kobra Leader's cell and releases him from his restraints in order to take him to the trade meeting point. The Leader mocks the warden by asking who Kobra had captured, mentioning Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Static before being told to be quiet by the warden, much to the Leader's pleasure. With a major police escort guarding the transfer to the trade spot, a Kobra member posing as a security guard releases his leader from his shackles, thus allowing him to escape by stealing an aircraft from the nearby Gotham Airport. As the police nab the Kobra member, he pronounces "Long live Kobra".
Batman contacts Bruce and tells him that he doesn't want to work with Static anymore which leads to a fight between the duo. However, Bruce quiets the pair and informs Batman and Static of the Leader's escape, and after clashing heads regarding Static's mishap with the Jokerz, Static leaves Batman and heads for Dakota to stop by the Abandoned Gas Station of Solitude. Batman arrives shortly after, claiming to have run into a dead end.
A fight almost ensues between them again, until Batman finds a retinal scanner on the wall of the gas station. As Static tests it out, it successfully opens a drop in the floor to a secret lair under the gas station. Having a look around, Batman finds what looks like a Shock Box, and as Static opens it, a hologram of Gear (an older and larger version) appears with a recorded message telling Static to meet him at Platform 247. Batman and Static deduce that with the real Gear situated on the other side of the planet, Kobra must have planned this to set up the old Static in order to capture him.
Meanwhile, the Kobra Leader arrives at the Kobra headquarters, which appears to be a giant airborne platform. He is greeted by his fellow Kobra subjects as they bow down to him in awe. One of the members informs their leader that they have Static contained in a stasis chamber. The Leader is pleased but demands to "do a little splicing first" before dealing with Static. Transforming into a human-cobra hybrid, he heads to the chamber, just as Batman and young Static arrive at Platform 247 after a little help from Bruce. The duo breaks into a vent and crawl their way to where Kobra is holding the older Static.
Attacking the Kobra Leader, the duo is seemingly outclassed by the Leader's strength, eventually taking him down with a supercharged knock-out gas bomb. Only then is Static able to release his older counterpart; now free, old Static easily takes out the remaining Kobra members. Having defeated Kobra, Static is amazed by his future self and now sees why Batman didn't think he was him, however, Batman admits to Static that "I'm starting to see the resemblance", now seeing him as a true hero. Static then tells his older self that he has "so many questions," but before he has the chance to ask anything, he is suddenly pulled back in time to his original era. His older self is able to tell him, "Believe in yourself, it's your greatest power."
Arriving back in the Batcave next to Batman and Robin, it is revealed that Gear was contacted by Batman to help fix the time machine and retrieve Static. Having just experienced the future, Static starts blurting out details on his friends' future selves, but he is quickly halted by Batman who states he'd rather not know his future. Asked if he's going to be okay by Gear, Static replies with "I'm going to be just fine, oh and Gear, maybe you should lay off the fries" as a hint to Gear's future self.
Continuity
- Batman says that Robin is a civilian, suggesting this episode takes place after the events of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
- Wonder Woman is mentioned to still be an active member of the Justice League in the 2040s.
- Static's future-self subsequently reappeared in the Justice League Unlimited episodes "The Once and Future Thing Part One: Weird Western Tales" and "The Once and Future Thing Part Two: Time, Warped".
- When Static starts to tell Batman about his future self, Batman replies "I'd rather not know". He later finds out on his own time traveling adventure on the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Once and Future Thing Part Two: Time, Warped" where his future self, his successor, and Static are surviving members of the Justice League.
Background information
Home video releases
Production notes
- The sequence with Virgil as an adult was storyboarded by Larry Houston,[1] who wanted to make the event "super-saiyan special."[2]
- Batman appears in his The New Batman Adventures model, despite having appeared in his Justice League model in the earlier episode "A League of Their Own".
Production inconsistencies
- The officers of the Gotham Police Department wear Dakota PD uniforms rather than their own grey and blue.
- Coe leads Batman and Static into the Jokerz lair, but when the view pans over the waiting Jokerz, Coe is seen in the background.
- Terry has trouble remembering the name of the answering machine, calling them "those things people used to have". However, it has been shown in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker that the answering machine is still in use in the 2040s.
Trivia
- According to Dwayne McDuffie, despite the fact the writers hadn't read it, this episode features a reference to his at the time unpublished story "Whatever Happened To All The Fun In The World?".[3] The reference was later revealed to be that Static's son mentioned in this episode is that stories' Larry Hawkins. McDuffie further clarified that Virgil's daughter, Sadie, is around as well but instead of a superhero, she becomes a human rights activist.[4]
- As with most other episodes featuring guest appearances, this one received a unique piece of promotional art.
- Though he only has a non-speaking cameo appearance, this episode marks the final appearance of Commissioner James Gordon in the DCAU production wise. Chronologically, he would make cameo appearances as a photograph or portrait in the Batman Beyond episodes "Black Out", "Splicers" and "Zeta".
- This episode marks the final appearance of Robin in the DCAU, production-wise. Chronologically he would appear again in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Shane Sweet voiced the character in this episode replacing Eli Marienthal who voiced him in "The Big Leagues".
- Terry McGinnis/Batman in this episode was credited as "Future Batman."
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Phil LaMarr | Static/Virgil Hawkins Reporter (uncredited) Cobra (uncredited) |
| Jason Marsden | Gear/Richie Foley Cobra (uncredited) |
| Kevin Conroy | Batman/Bruce Wayne |
| Shane Sweet | Robin |
| Will Friedle | Batman/Terry McGinnis Seven-Five-Niner (uncredited) |
| Marc Worden | Jokerz Gang Member Answering machine (uncredited) |
| Lance Henriksen | Kobra Leader |
| Dorian Harewood | Warden |
Uncredited appearances
Quotes
Robin: He learned science from Nobel laureates, martial arts from kung fu masters, and manners from a crocodile. |
Static: Isn't there anyone else who could help us? What about Robin? |
Terry: What was Bruce like when you knew him? |
Virgil: They're just a bunch of clowns, that's all. (ducks a pie thrown by Spike) See? Just a bunch of- (cringes in horror when he sees the "pie" melt through the pillar it hit) |
- ↑ Larry Houston tweet (Oct. 12, 2022)
- ↑ Larry F. Houston FaceBook post (Feb. 6, 2020)
- ↑ Series Creator Dwayne McDuffie Interview conducted by Jim Harvey.
- ↑ DCAU Resource - Dwayne McDuffie Quotes Archive