Looks like they nailed it. The tone of this is absolutely bang on. Very fun at face value, but with enough of a hint that there's going to be a very real, even dark side to it under the colourful surface.
I'm kind of hoping its just stupid and silly though and though as it's the best way to deal with powers on his level, and 'cos Magic' is a splendid go to
The trailer makes the movie look like a lot of fun - hopefully the movie delivers on it!
Now, I'll admit to not being the biggest Captain Marvel/Shazam fan, I've always liked the character though - but...I don't remember Dr. Sivana being super powered?
Of all things, it made me think of the old Tom Hanks movie 'Big'. Looks really good, and it's nice to see a DC movie that embraces the inherent silliness of a character's concept and just has some fun with it.
Regarding Sivana, in the New 52 version he gets zapped by some magic when searching for Black Adam’s tomb. This looks *very* similar to that version...which would make sense since Johns was involved. I think you can even make out Sivana’s sparkly eye.
Yeah, this does look like an almost exact adaptation of the Johns N52 run, certain scenes seem to be directly pulled from those issues...
Which is great news, as that is an excellent run. If you're not familiar with the character and want a single volume introduction, I highly recommend picking up a copy of that.
I do find it somewhat ironic that Mark Strong is playing Sivana, as I maintain he'd make an incredible Black Adam (a role I'm really not convinced The Rock can do justice).
I do not give a crap about Shazam, but damn this looks fun.
Paradigm wrote: I do find it somewhat ironic that Mark Strong is playing Sivana, as I maintain he'd make an incredible Black Adam (a role I'm really not convinced The Rock can do justice).
Mark Strong would make a good Wonder Woman. That man can do anything.
I do like that there's also some hints to it that it isn't just a comedy, that there's the aspect of he IS an orphan and that there might be some dramatic elements still in the film from that.
I don't want Snyder but I do want, and I think this is the right term, but please correct me if I'm wrong but... Pathos? Too
There's a few good videos about "Who is Shazam" but presumably you're not wanting to see them.
Funnily enough, I'm pretty sure Bananaman is quite heavily based off of Shazam as a parody.
Ok, who is he. Cliffnotes.
Way, way back when, Fawcett Comics created a Superman style superhero called "Captain Marvel" (no relationship to Disney's Brie Larson character, Carol Danvers. - That's a whole other mess of complication).
Billy Batson is a kid, who said the words "Shazam" and became a superhero, Captain Marvel - The Earth's Mightiest Mortal.
For a fair amount of time, Captain Marvel was WAY WAY WAY more popular than Superman. Because, what's more exciting for kids than Superheros? A *Kid* That becomes a superhero.
Legal stuff happened. More legal stuff happened. Companies were bought and so on...
Eventually, DC acquired Captain Marvel as a character and added him to their Justice League rosters.
More legal stuff happened and time went on.
Eventually, somebody decided, "eff this, this is too confusing." Probably amongst a whole heap of legal stuff
So, The Marvel Comics character, Carol Danvers, aka Ms Marvel, became Captain Marvel.
And the DC Comics hero, once known as Captain Marvel, became known as Shazam. - Which was his catchphase anyway.
As for what and who Shazam is. You can kind of think of him as a Wonder Woman / Superman cross. - Sort of Superman but magical.
And, Shazam itself means:
S for the Wisdom of Solomon
H for the Strength of Hercules
A for the Stamina of Atlas
Z for the Power of Zeus
A for the Courage of Achilles
M for the Speed of Mercury
He's part of the New 52 Justice League, has shown up a few times in animation. - His best appearance run in cartoons is probably in Young Justice. And comics wise, his most influential and famous appearance is almost certainly in Alex Ross' Kingdom Come.
Because hes magic based he can actually beat the gak out of Superman (whos only 2 actual weaknesses are kryptonite and magic). There is a great bit that has been used a few times where he grabs supes, holds him towards the sky and yells shazam over and over so supes keeps getting hit by the magical lightning bolts that would turn him back into Billy.
Captain Marvel is still called Captain Marvel btw. His comic is just titled Shazam! And the orginal Marvel character was not the Carol Danvers Mrs Marvel, but Captain Mahr Vel (the Kree warrior who sided with earth).
I've always liked the idea of Captain Marvel (still waffling about calling him Shazam) though never really read his ongoings. There's just something heartening about the idea that this kid, who's had a rough go of it, is given godlike power to do whatever he wants - powers that previous users used to become feared god-kings - and decides he wants to be Superman, so he can help people.
That said, I do not like this rendition of the suit, and I worry about Zachary Levi eventually fighting the Rock, because that throw-down requires dangerous amounts of ham-to-ham combat an I don't know if Levi can keep up with that.
Captain Joystick wrote: I've always liked the idea of Captain Marvel (still waffling about calling him Shazam) though never really read his ongoings. There's just something heartening about the idea that this kid, who's had a rough go of it, is given godlike power to do whatever he wants - powers that previous users used to become feared god-kings - and decides he wants to be Superman, so he can help people.
That said, I do not like this rendition of the suit, and I worry about Zachary Levi eventually fighting the Rock, because that throw-down requires dangerous amounts of ham-to-ham combat an I don't know if Levi can keep up with that.
I don't know, he's fairly ham-tastic as Fandril in Thor 2.
I do hope any eventual sequel to this features Superman in some kind of mentor role to Billy, as that'd be a great way to get more of the classic, post-JL Superman on screen as MoS2 still seems to be off the cards for the time being.
Ideally, we get Shazam as a fairly self-contained origin, Black Adam set mostly in ancient Kandaq with the final scene being Adam returning to the modern day, then a sequel to both in which Superman and Shazam throw down with Adam. Which I believe is basically the plot of one of the animated movies and the comic First Thunder, but nonetheless it'd make a great movie.
I think the suit mostly fits what this movie is shaping up to be. If they were going more a more serious approach, they might have gone with the flap and buttons, which would probably lend itself more to a leathery-looking suit.
Spoiler:
To be fair to the Marvel family, their adventures weren't always about goofy characters like Mr. Mind and Tawky Tawny like many think. They had darker villains like Ibac and Sabbac, and horror elements that crept into their comics in the '50s. Meanwhile, Superman had a lot of goofy comic villains of his own. But this film seems focused on the Marvels' lighter side, which is fine.
I would not worry about Zachary Levi's ham abilities- if you would like the short version of his smarmy, scene chewing abilities, watch 'Tangled'. He is Flynn Rider.
For the more extended version, watch 'Chuck', in which he plays a nerd bestowed with intelligence, and fighting capabilities.
He is a lovable goofball. I'd say he's perfect for the role.
One aspect I like in the late 90's-2000's run was that there were 3 Captain Marvels (The Marvel Family, originally called Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr, and of Course Captain Marvel himself). However their power was one power (so if 3 were active they were each 1/3 as powerful)...It was a nice spin on things...
JmOz01 wrote: One aspect I like in the late 90's-2000's run was that there were 3 Captain Marvels (The Marvel Family, originally called Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr, and of Course Captain Marvel himself). However their power was one power (so if 3 were active they were each 1/3 as powerful)...It was a nice spin on things...
The New 52 version -- from which this film obviously borrows -- expanded on that concept. Without spoiling things, it's clear that they're laying the groundwork to go that way in this film or later films if they choose.
Yeah I was not expecting a lot from this - never read the comic, thought the concept was a bit daft, got tired of Chuck fairly quickly - but it looks worth checking out once it hits Netflix.
One of my favorite Cap. Marvel stories in the animated shows involved a magic spell that took all adults and sent them away. However, since Capt. Marvel was not an adult, he was not effected and had to solve the case.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t effected, it’s that he could go back and forth between the split adult and kid worlds by changing back and forth between Marvel and Billy.
AduroT wrote: It wasn’t that he wasn’t effected, it’s that he could go back and forth between the split adult and kid worlds by changing back and forth between Marvel and Billy.
That's right. He had to solve the case as Billy IIRC.
I saw it a while ago, but it was still a good story especially for the character.
AduroT wrote: It wasn’t that he wasn’t effected, it’s that he could go back and forth between the split adult and kid worlds by changing back and forth between Marvel and Billy.
That's right. He had to solve the case as Billy IIRC.
I saw it a while ago, but it was still a good story especially for the character.
It’s a story that I frequently remember and think about just because of how they kind of gloss over or ignore that their scenario would have caused the deaths of thousands if not millions of children worldwide.
If i remeber correctly that was a young justice episode with klarion the witch boy doing the spell on the kid side and someone else doing it on the adult side. Am i remembering that correctly?
So the director said the rumor of a new trailer on Tuesday was bunk. Oh well. Gotta get a final trailer fairly soon though...the release is less than 3 months away.
The "SHAZAM!" jumping off the roof is a cool shot.
AduroT wrote: It wasn’t that he wasn’t effected, it’s that he could go back and forth between the split adult and kid worlds by changing back and forth between Marvel and Billy.
I think this is an episode from Young Justice when Klarion and the other villains made a separate dimension for the adults and children.
AduroT wrote: It wasn’t that he wasn’t effected, it’s that he could go back and forth between the split adult and kid worlds by changing back and forth between Marvel and Billy.
I think this is an episode from Young Justice when Klarion and the other villains made a separate dimension for the adults and children.
And likely killed millions of children in the process.
I think the movie looks fun and totally fits the character, but I always find myself wishing Black Adam was attached to something else. He's one of my favorite DC villains, but I don't see him getting adapted well into the kind of franchise this wants to be. He's like DC's answer to Dr. Doom and I fear he'll be adapted just as well.
I believe he’s still attached to the Black Adam project, but I don’t know what kind of project there is. Seems like the DC schedule is mostly full into 2021.
It was probably a good call to keep him out of the film. He’d overshadow everything they’re trying to do with this one. I don’t think Shazam is going to be 100% light comedy however. If the rumors about certain characters are right, it should have some darker moments.
So John Glover may be part of the cast. Uncle Marvel, perhaps?
I liked the comic where Superman found out that Captain Marvel is just a kid and goes to the Wizard and yells at him about how kids should be in school and goofing off not worrying about super villains targeting him or his friends/family or having to save the world.
That's another thing I think. Movies don't need to be gigantic hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars things. I would genuinely love a Batman movie that was just about him solving a crime involving a villain. No cities being blown up or being put under siege or the like, just something that has the stakes really maybe about a handful of peoples lives that you get to know over the course of the movie.
You know, like, "Mask of the Phantasm" or "Under the Red Hood..." My two favourite Batman films.
Anyhow, back on topic. The final gag at the end of the trailer had me audibly giggling.
Yeah, I believe the director of Shazam has stated that it's not a fate-of-the-world-hanging-in-the-balance film with a swirling vortex in the sky and such. Which is actually pretty cool. If only the studio had figured that out that when they did SS.
The new head of DC films is from New Line, where they did horror films and learned how to do a lot with a little.
My kids are looking forward to this one, and it looks like it'll be a fun time.
I'm not feeling the need to see this right away, but I want to see it. Probably skip it in theaters, but I'm watching my preferred sources to see if there's more to it.
Well, the review embargo lifted today (think that's the earliest yet for a DCEU film), and it's currently at 95% on RT and 79% on Metacritic.
And...I saw an early screening today! It's cute and funny. They didn't give away all the jokes in the trailers...in fact, some of those scenes have a lot more to them and are a lot funnier. They also kept a couple important aspects of the film out of the trailers, so my advice is to stay away from spoiler reviews. I don't want to give too much away either, so I'll keep my comments spoiler-free.
Zachary Levi is really good...he's pretty awesome doing the 'big kid' thing, and he has a great chemistry with the kid who plays Freddie Freeman. That kid is really good. But Levi carries the film IMO. Lots of little DC references throughout...it definitely embraces the source material and the DCEU (I'd like to say more about this but will wait until its regular release), but is its own thing too. I have a few quibbles with this and that, but overall it's a fun ride and I think it'll have good word of mouth and do well. It's wide open for a sequel, but the story feels resolved satisfactorily too. I had a good time.
Oh...best supervillain evil monologue ever. You’ll see what I mean.
I saw an early screening yesterday. The characters are great. Especially the whole big adopted family. A lot of fun all around. Definitely up there with Aquaman and WW as the "good" DCEU films.
That being said, the CGI is like night and day with Marvel. It's amazing the quality marvel pulls off with even something like Captain Marvel or Antman vs this. There are times, especially with the flight, and especially when it's around other people, where the fact that the characters are on a green screen could not be more apparent and a few times it was bad enough that it took me out of the film.
I didn't think the effects work was *that* bad. It was a $85-90 million film (I don't think Marvel Studios has ever had a budget that low), so another $10-15 mil probably would have ironed out some stuff.
Fox made Deadpool on the cheap also, and I think the two films compare in a number of ways. Shazam! is obviously missing all the raunchy stuff, but the irreverent approach is similar.
Holding pretty steady at 93% on RT and 76% on MC. Looks like it's going to be a nice success story for DC. I bet the sequel gets fast-tracked.
Much like the first Deadpool, this movie comes off to me as a labor of love, something someone really enthusiastic for the character and project put together more than some suits in a conference room.
First DCU movie since Suicide Squad I'm willing to give a shot.
LordofHats wrote: Much like the first Deadpool, this movie comes off to me as a labor of love, something someone really enthusiastic for the character and project put together more than some suits in a conference room.
First DCU movie since Suicide Squad I'm willing to give a shot.
Its certainly an interesting contrast to the Zack Snyder interviews now making the rounds. Hes basically shouting expletives at fans and telling them they need to wake the $%#& up if they expect superheroes to act heroically or in character. His stance is basically just not that kind of world anymore, and that kind of thinking is worthless.
To which I say he should never be associated with any kind of movie with heroes in it. Or movies in general, really, if he thinks optimism is outmoded.
LordofHats wrote: Much like the first Deadpool, this movie comes off to me as a labor of love, something someone really enthusiastic for the character and project put together more than some suits in a conference room.
First DCU movie since Suicide Squad I'm willing to give a shot.
Its certainly an interesting contrast to the Zack Snyder interviews now making the rounds. Hes basically shouting expletives at fans and telling them they need to wake the $%#& up if they expect superheroes to act heroically or in character. His stance is basically just not that kind of world anymore, and that kind of thinking is worthless.
To which I say he should never be associated with any kind of movie with heroes in it. Or movies in general, really, if he thinks optimism is outmoded.
I decided Zack Snyder was a moron when he declared that Martian Manhunter disguising himself as a human being to live among us was a stupid idea. The man's too high on his own farts for his own good.
LordofHats wrote: Much like the first Deadpool, this movie comes off to me as a labor of love, something someone really enthusiastic for the character and project put together more than some suits in a conference room.
First DCU movie since Suicide Squad I'm willing to give a shot.
Its certainly an interesting contrast to the Zack Snyder interviews now making the rounds. Hes basically shouting expletives at fans and telling them they need to wake the $%#& up if they expect superheroes to act heroically or in character. His stance is basically just not that kind of world anymore, and that kind of thinking is worthless.
To which I say he should never be associated with any kind of movie with heroes in it. Or movies in general, really, if he thinks optimism is outmoded.
Snyder's problem has long been that he's not really a fan of comic books, but a fan of comic book deconstructions. Those stories are great, but you lose a lot of their impact when you don't understand or appreciate what it is they're tearing down. Snyder is basically the filmmaking equivalent of the 90's era of comics. They saw the success of deconstructionist works and pulled from them the superficial stuff. All the gore and psychological issues without the thoughtful world building and understanding of the norms they sought to subvert.
I still say MoS is a very well-made film, and isn't nearly as dark or dour as people claim. Then again, the Nolans' fingerprints are all over that one. Post-MoS, it was Snyder and Goyer steering the ship, with the help of Chris Terrio, who wasn't a comics guy and understood comics fans less than S & G.
BvS featured a Batman who'd gone off the rails after the death of a Robin. That's a simple and interesting story, and a more popular film could have been made based on that concept IMO. I really think the issues there weren't about deconstruction, but about an overstuffed, overlong story and a knob turned up to 11.
On that last point, witness the sheer ugliness of Bats' and Supes' fight, with them rolling around smashing sinks over each other's heads in a filthy bathroom in a crumbling tenament house. I'm sure the creative decision there was that the grime and decay and rain and darkness reflected Bruce's worldview. And it's beautifully shot. But it just feels way overdone.
Back on topic though...Shazam! is nothing like BvS.
That's kind of the main thing I wanted to know about Shazam. My main knowledge of the character primarily is "Justice League War" where there's various hints of, I think pathos is the right term, to Billy.
There's this idea that he's this orphan kid, who has had to wheedle and trick his way through everything in his life with noone backing him up, up until Shazam, and Freddy and the Justice League.
I sort of hope there's elements of that to it all.
Compel wrote: That's kind of the main thing I wanted to know about Shazam. My main knowledge of the character primarily is "Justice League War" where there's various hints of, I think pathos is the right term, to Billy.
There's this idea that he's this orphan kid, who has had to wheedle and trick his way through everything in his life with noone backing him up, up until Shazam, and Freddy and the Justice League.
I sort of hope there's elements of that to it all.
Well, I was referring to two scary-intense sequences. The director made his name in horror, and he put just *a little* of that in the film, kinda like what Wan did in Aquaman with the Trench.
But yeah, there's absolutely some human drama to it, if that's what you mean. It's not Shakespeare, but it definitely has heart and some emotional range. I think you'll be really happy with it from that perspective.
Though I'll repeat my warning...STAY AWAY FROM SPOILERS. You'll be glad you did.
gorgon wrote: I still say MoS is a very well-made film, and isn't nearly as dark or dour as people claim. Then again, the Nolans' fingerprints are all over that one. Post-MoS, it was Snyder and Goyer steering the ship, with the help of Chris Terrio, who wasn't a comics guy and understood comics fans less than S & G.
MoS is just another one of those times when someone tried to up the appeal of Superman by ditching all of the appeal of Superman and copying something else that's popular instead. It's all the Kent stuff that really drags the film down for me and even then I liked it okay; it just doesn't really feel like it gets the character and plays to action instead.
BvS featured a Batman who'd gone off the rails after the death of a Robin. That's a simple and interesting story, and a more popular film could have been made based on that concept IMO. I really think the issues there weren't about deconstruction, but about an overstuffed, overlong story and a knob turned up to 11.
On that last point, witness the sheer ugliness of Bats' and Supes' fight, with them rolling around smashing sinks over each other's heads in a filthy bathroom in a crumbling tenament house. I'm sure the creative decision there was that the grime and decay and rain and darkness reflected Bruce's worldview. And it's beautifully shot. But it just feels way overdone.
Back on topic though...Shazam! is nothing like BvS.
That's the thing; BvS isn't deconstructing anything; its very much a world building film that thinks deconstructionist takes are a solid foundation to build on. There's some really good thematic concepts throughout it (even Martha!) but it doesn't work because it doesn't have the appreciation of what came before it to properly deconstruct it. It comes from someone who believes in the deconstruction as the base. That's the fundamental difference between the BvS fight and Cap vs Tony. The former knows this fight matters because the characters are important, but it gives us fairly unrecognizable versions of the characters and expects it to still feel important. Civil War preys on the love we've built from 5+ previous performances in defining versions of the characters that have developed a friendship so it matters when they fight.
BvS has a lot of other problems. It's hugely burdened trying to set up a Justice League film with random trailers inserted in the middle (that scene would have worked well post credit), at least 2-3 conflicts to resolve. At its core though, the root of the problem is just that Snyder's love of comics is pretty much rooted in DKR and Watchmen and the universe he built runs into the same problems we got whenever we've seen people try to make things like the DKR version of Batman into an ongoing thing. Those stories are compelling because their worlds are falling apart and their stories are finite. It's just not something that works as a steady status quo.
Saw it. Liked it. Good fun movie. Lots of references including one I would not have expected to see. Lightning hands effects were excellent. Flying effects were ok.
AduroT wrote: Saw it. Liked it. Good fun movie. Lots of references including one I would not have expected to see. Lightning hands effects were excellent. Flying effects were ok.
It's certainly full of DC references. Which one surprised you? Personally...
Spoiler:
I first did a 'no way' when I saw Mister Mind in captivity...then was blown away to see the little guy featured in the mid-credits scene. An talking, ultra-intelligent caterpillar sure wouldn't have existed in the Snyderverse, LOL.
Shoot, will Tawky Tawny make it into the sequel? They did a little wink toward that character at the carnival, but I think it's absolutely on the table if Mister Mind is going to be the big bad.
AduroT wrote: Saw it. Liked it. Good fun movie. Lots of references including one I would not have expected to see. Lightning hands effects were excellent. Flying effects were ok.
It's certainly full of DC references. Which one surprised you? Personally...
Spoiler:
I first did a 'no way' when I saw Mister Mind in captivity...then was blown away to see the little guy featured in the mid-credits scene. An talking, ultra-intelligent caterpillar sure wouldn't have existed in the Snyderverse, LOL.
Shoot, will Tawky Tawny make it into the sequel? They did a little wink toward that character at the carnival, but I think it's absolutely on the table if Mister Mind is going to be the big bad.
Well, the weekend box office finished ahead of most estimates. Still less than most 'big' superhero films, but it is a smaller film with only a $90 mil budget. It has an 'A' Cinemascore from audiences, which usually means good word-of-mouth and decent box office "legs". At least until Avengers arrives. Maybe it could eke out another decent week since so many Avengers showings seem sold out?
Interestingly, it's getting panned in China, and that will probably affect the worldwide numbers. This while it seemed like everyone in China saw Aquaman three times. *shrug* Cultural differences are real.
Still definitely looks like a big win for DC/WB. Who would have thought that DC's most successful superhero characters on film would be Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam/Captain Marvel? Quite an age we're living in.
gorgon wrote: Interestingly, it's getting panned in China, and that will probably affect the worldwide numbers. This while it seemed like everyone in China saw Aquaman three times. *shrug* Cultural differences are real.
I think it's a humor thing. American comedy never seems to perform well there. Didn't the more comedic MCU movies also do less well in China comparatively? Guardians and Ant-Man I think. Humor seems to translate even more poorly than most things across cultural lines.
gorgon wrote: Interestingly, it's getting panned in China, and that will probably affect the worldwide numbers. This while it seemed like everyone in China saw Aquaman three times. *shrug* Cultural differences are real.
I think it's a humor thing. American comedy never seems to perform well there. Didn't the more comedic MCU movies also do less well in China comparatively? Guardians and Ant-Man I think. Humor seems to translate even more poorly than most things across cultural lines.
Yeah, that could be it. I'm also not sure if some of the themes of Shazam regarding foster families, etc. play the same way there, but I could definitely be wrong about that.
Spectacle may be a big factor. Aquaman had tons of it, but Shazam is a much more modest film.
Still definitely looks like a big win for DC/WB. Who would have thought that DC's most successful superhero characters on film would be Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam/Captain Marvel? Quite an age we're living in.
Who would have thought Marvel would make it big with Iron Man?
Still definitely looks like a big win for DC/WB. Who would have thought that DC's most successful superhero characters on film would be Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam/Captain Marvel? Quite an age we're living in.
Who would have thought Marvel would make it big with Iron Man?
Oh sure. And what Marvel has built with mostly second and third tier characters is mind blowing. Gadzooks, they’re working on an Eternals movie. Eternals! Who are like the weird distant cousins of the already-obscure-to-general-audiences New Gods.
I guess I didn’t see DC pulling off similar stuff. It does seem like the lack of baggage can be a good thing for B-list superheroes, so long as you put out a reasonably entertaining film.
I rather enjoyed it. It wasn't trying to be an overly politicized social statement but rather was simply a fun super hero movie true to the off beat nature of its namesake similar to Aquaman.
I liked it (even though I was biased as from the beginning due to being a fan of Zachary Levi since Chuck). But even more interesting is the fact that my wife enjoyed it as well.
Had a few very good chuckles through out the movie. And Overall it seemed (to me) been well made.
Interestingly I found it more to be a 'classic' super hero with clear Good/Bad distinction than many other movies. And it worked.
Still definitely looks like a big win for DC/WB. Who would have thought that DC's most successful superhero characters on film would be Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam/Captain Marvel? Quite an age we're living in.
Ha!
Go back about 10 years and...absolutely no one would have predicted that!
I was surprised to see the Marvel family show up before Black Adam (and no, that little bit from the Wizard doesn't count!).
Mister Mind blew me away. Although the presence of the crocodile men was a deeper dig into Captain Marvel lore. The stuff we see onscreen these days is crazy.
Rumor is that the plan is for Shazam!2, a standalone BA movie, and then they meet. The Rock recently said on social media that they hope to start shooting BA in about a year. I believe the writer of Shazam! has already been signed for Shazam!2...have to think they're going to move fast since the kids will grow up quickly.
Regarding Adam, although he's a very popular character, it's not like he was part of the Captain Marvel mythology right from the beginning. Sivana made sense to me as the first villain, even if he's more like the New 52 version than the classic version. And this way they get to build out a Shazamiverse just like they're building an Aquaverse through the Trench spinoff, etc.
Black Adam as we know him today is basically a wholly original DC character. He was essentially mined from obscurity when DC realized Captain Marvel vs Superman was a great showdown and needed a villain version of the concept, given basically one real story vs Billy and then sent of to be their version of Dr Doom. He's never really been a great Shazam villain and plays much better off other heroes... and other villains for what its worth.
I enjoyed Shazam quite a bit, went with low expectations but it had some really funny moments. Only thing I couldn't quite get over is the kid that plays Billy looks like he's Maisie Willams (GOT Arya Starks) twin brother.
Looks like current box office is around $122m domestic, $324 worldwide (off a $90m budget). Which is chump change compared to current Marvel films, but it's moving toward the general territory of some of their phase 1 entries. And it's a character people don't know very well, attached to a brand that's still rebuilding trust with audiences. So maybe it's not a home run, but it's a solid double for a franchise that really needs base hits.
I expect it'll also do very well on home video, setting up what will probably be a bigger-budgeted, bigger box office sequel. The writer and director are returning, IIRC. Think the writer may already be working on it?
Well, I saw some estimates that it'll finish near $400m worldwide. With a $90m budget, that's clearly a financial success. It also got an 'A' cinemascore from audiences and very good reviews from critics. It didn't open to huge money, but the box office has held pretty well from week to week according to how they measure such things, which indicates good word-of-mouth. So yeah, it's a success...as evidenced by them getting the ball rolling immediately on a sequel.
stanman wrote: I enjoyed Shazam quite a bit, went with low expectations but it had some really funny moments. Only thing I couldn't quite get over is the kid that plays Billy looks like he's Maisie Willams (GOT Arya Starks) twin brother.
Looks really good, and it's nice to see a 
