They already did with the first Ant-Man.
I think part of it is reflecting on the show in a post-CW world where the protagonists get split up piecemeal to create roles for other actors and making the title character feel diluted that sour the idea of giving Static a teammate to me. It doesn't help that Richie's costume looked like he tripped in the Back to School aisle at Target and showed up to floor hockey practice that makes him feel too far out of his depth to not be a liability. Unlike Robin, there's no pretense of intense training from a mentor. Richie in the field just feels like he steals focus from Virgil with no significant payoff.
Richie is great as Virgil's best friend and tether to his social life. Between his dad/sister for his home life and Freida/Daisy for his love life, Virgil has a pretty strong cast of characters and I see no great reason to mix that up with a discount Blue Beetle. But it's just my admittedly awful opinion.
The writing on Static was leagues above any CW show. Richie going from Virgil's best friend to confidant to becoming a hero himself was one of the most natural, organic developments in any superhero show.
While I have various levels of fondness and respect for some of the CW DC shows, John Venus has the idea.
Richie's character progression and transformation really was done well. And as I said before, many similar cartoons/comics/etc. with similar/relatable set-ups that I've come by before and since really could/should have taken notes, because Static Shock and its creative team knew what they were doing. Gear's intro into Static's life fit, and that's due to the transition from Richie -> Gear being a natural and organic evolution. Static Shock's creative team really do make it make sense in-context.
And a bit bluntly, imagining Gear to be a discount Blue Beetle (presuming you mean Jaime, who Gear predates) is definitely an unfair reaction. Same for the random jab at Gear's look.
Thank you.
When part of me tried guessing which Jason would make the most general sense with the given context, Jason Rusch did come to mind. But I really couldn't be sure, so that why I asked. (DC has a lot of Jasons.)
I heard that Static's toyline not selling well was part of the reason why it was cancelled but TPTB didn't give Static's toyline a fair shot either.
This is my first time hearing about their other interference.
That sucks. I hope the movie does better with merchandising.