10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About Static Shock
5. The Show Couldn't Use Black Lightning, But They Paid Tribute To Him
Despite the similarities in their power sets, and his long existence at DC, but the publisher would not allow the show to use Black Lightning.
The producers got around this by paying homage to him in a couple episodes.
When Virgil first decides he is going to be a hero, like any kid would he spends significant time choosing a costume. One of Virgil's early choices harkens back to Black Vulcan's seventies Super Friends costume. His friend Richie quickly dismisses it as 'looking like a battery commercial.' The double joke here is that Black Vulcan was himself a knockoff of Black Lightning, whose creator would not let DC use the character for the Super Friends cartoon.
In the episode 'Blast From the Past', a retired hero named Soul Power with abilities, looks, and catchphrases almost identical to Black Lightning's, is called back into action to help Static defeat Soul Power's nemesis Professor Menace, in a great send-up of the cheesy sixties Batman show.