LOS ANGELES -- New costume. New sidekick. New theme song. New look. Static Shock, the animated series based on the Milestone Comics character, is definitely recharged for its third season on Kids' WB!.

"When you see the episodes, you're going to think it's a completely different show," supervising producer Alan Burnett says. "It's still the same show, but there's a real tonal difference."

Burnett, an animation veteran whose credits include Batman, Superman and Batman Beyond, says that Static will be portrayed as a little older for this season. "He's grown some," Burnett says. "He's less a 14-15 year-old and more a 15-16 year-old and that made a difference for us this season. The villains have gotten more imposing and there are more adult villains than before."

The third season's first episode, "Hard as Nails," aired last Saturday. The show took place in Gotham City as Static teamed with Batman for the second time to thwart Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Although the remaining episodes take place in Dakota City and other venues, look for the new feel of the show to continue.

"The palette of the show has gotten darker this season," Burnett says. "Especially after the success of the Static/Batman team-up last season. That was a show that went darker than we usually went, with more night scenes. And after that show, everybody went, 'Let's go in that direction.' So we're getting Static out from under the sun."

Static has a darker costume that was altered from one that tested poorly with kids. And in the upcoming episode "Gear," it's discovered that Virgil's pal Richie Foley was also a Bang Baby, and develops super-smartness that allows him to devise all kinds of high-tech equipment.

"Kids seemed to want Static to have a super-powered friend," Burnett says of the enhanced role for Richie, who is voiced by Jason Marsden. The new theme song for Static Shock comes from Lil' Romeo and his father Master P, and look for Lil' Romeo to guest-star in an episode later this season. One constant from the first two seasons is Phil LaMarr, the man of a thousand voices who plays Virgil/Static. He also currently performs such roles as Samurai Jack and Green Lantern in Justice League.

LaMarr is a rarity in the voice-acting world. He was familiar with his character before the show began. "I've read comics since I was teeny-tiny," LaMarr says. "And, as a black comic-book reader, your antenna goes up every time there's any face of color anywhere. Usually, it doesn't live up to the expectations of what you would hope, but we buy all the issues of Black Lightning anyway. Just to see them.

"So, with Static, when the initial comic-book line came out, I was all over it. There were the others, but Static and Blood Syndicate were the ones that stuck with me more. Maybe it was because of the more urban grounding of it that gave us some sense of reality.

"This show is a great combination of action, real-people issues, cool electricity effects and heart." LaMarr does double duty as Static and Green Lantern in "A League of Their Own," an upcoming two-part episode that teams Static with the Justice League in their Cartoon Network incarnation.

Static will have even more involvement with the DC Universe in Season 3. The season closes with "Toys in the Hood," a Superman team-up involving Toyman. There also will be numerous guest-stars. The third episode, set to air on Feb. 8, is "Static Goes to Africa" and guest-stars Carl Lumbly of Alias and Justice League and Michael Jai White, who starred in the Spawn movie.

"It's going to be a really good season," Burnett says. "I'm very pleased how things are turning out." Static Shock airs Saturdays on Kids' WB! at 10:30 a.m. (ET). Coming next: Daredevil!

The Trailer Park Archive

July 2 2003 - Hellboy June 25, 2003 - Ang Lee June 18, 2003 - Eric Bana June 11, 2003 - Spider-Man Animation June 4 , 2003 - Lou Ferrigno May 27 , 2003 - Teen Titans May 20 , 2003 - Bryan Singer May 14 , 2003 - Al Gough May 8 , 2003 - Kelly Hu April 22, 2003 - Aaron Stanford April 18, 2003 - James Marsden April 15, 2003 - Jaime King April 8, 2003 - Halle Berry April 2, 2003 - Anna Paquin March 26 , 2003 - Scott McNeil March 21 , 2003 - Alan Cumming March 18 , 2003 - Michael Rosenbaum March 14 , 2003 - Ted Raimi: The "Other" Raimi Is Coming Back March 11 , 2003 - Maria Canals likes the call of the wild March 7 , 2003 - John Shea - Welcome to Mutant X March 4 , 2003 - Anthony Cistaro - Witchblade February 27 , 2003 - David Kaye - Professor X February 18 , 2003 - Victor Webster February 14 , 2003 - Ben Affleck February 11 , 2003 - Colin Farrell February 7 , 2003 - Comic Controversy? January 31 , 2003 - Static Shock January 24 , 2003 - Jennifer Garner