The Batman/Static: Beyond miniseries puts a fresh spin on the future of the DCAU. While its main villain bears a surface resemblance to the Electro of The Amazing Spider-Man movies, the antagonist has a classic Batman Beyond origin and serves as an archenemy for Static.
Created by Evan Narcisse and Nikolas Draper-Ivey, Batman/Static: Beyond centers the two popular heroes. The setting of the comic is 20 years in the future. However, unlike the classic DCAU, this Dakota City is based on the modern Milestone Media reality. This changes little beyond the fact that the Big Bang that created Static and the other Bang Babies occurred at a protest rally rather than a gang war.
(Image Source: DC / Nikolas Draper-Ivey)
At this point in the timeline, Virgil Hawkins is a tech magnate with the open superhero identity Static. Terry McGinnis, on the other hand, is still in high school and finding his feet as the new Batman. The series opens with Static getting ready to launch a power plant in Neo-Gotham that uses the same Q-Juice that empowered him as fuel. This has resulted in multiple student protests at Terry’s school, and it is one of these protesters who is destined to become the Electro to Terry’s Spider-Man.
Who is Batman/Static: Beyond’s Shutdown?
An attack by the Jokerz gang results in a Q-Juice leak at the plant, which infects protester Melvin Kim. Brilliant but anti-social, Melvin has a deep-seated hatred of technology. This is largely due to his being neglected by his programmer parents, who were more concerned with their work than their son. However, Melvin is also implied to have some kind of metahuman ability that lets him hear machines. This is incredibly painful in the high-tech world of Batman/Static: Beyond and the only peace Melvin finds is in nature. This makes Melvin a natural recruit to the anti-tech movement, who fear Static’s new power plants could create more metahuman “freaks.”
(Image Source: DC / Nikolas Draper-Ivey)
While Static developed safeguards to prevent a second ‘Big Bang,’ they weren’t active at the Q-Grid gala. This resulting accident increases Melvin’s natural abilities and the pain he feels around technology. However, Melvin also develops an ability to absorb and redirect electric energy, like Static. He can also teleport by transforming himself into pure energy. Dubbing himself Shutdown, Melvin launches a one-man war on Static’s companies.
(Image Source: DC / Nikolas Draper-Ivey)
While his powers may be derivative of Electro, Shutdown is a perfect villain for both the new Batman and Static. Like many Batman Beyond villains, Shutdown is a teenager and classmate of Terry McGinnis transformed by an accident. In the case of Static, Shutdown is an ironic mirror of the teen vigilante Virgil Hawkins once was, even ignoring his powers. While ending his pain is a motivation, Shutdown also believes he is fighting a corrupt businessman whose technology is hurting others. This is not dissimilar from Static’s battles with Edwin Alva, whose company created Q-Juice.
Batman/Static Beyond #2 is now available at comic shops everywhere.