Quick-witted 14-year-old Virgil Hawkins, an ordinary inner-city kid, finds himself imbued with electromagnetic superpowers after exposure to a mutagenic gas. With the help of his loyal best friend, Richie Foley, socially inept Virgil overcomes his fears as the charismatic Static, a masked avenger of injustice. Based on characters from the DC Comics series, Virgil and his classmates confront real problems and issues faced by today's teens.