At San Diego Comic-Con today, DC unveiled a surprise first look at another of its upcoming superhero films, Shazam!, which will star Zachary Levi as the film’s titular superhero. It’s a surprisingly funny-looking film, which feels like it’s just what DC needs to get away from the dark and grim image that its franchise has been saddled with.
The trailer introduces us to Billy Batson, a kid who’s introduced to a new foster family and school. After fighting off a couple of bullies, he’s chosen by a wizard called Shazam, who tells him that if he utters his name, he’ll gain superpowers. He does, and he abruptly turns into an adult hero. Think Big, but with superpowers — he works on trying to figure out what his powers are — zapping people’s phones to charge them and discovers that he’s bullet proof. It looks like a surprisingly funny and zany superhero film, which will be a huge turn from the incredibly grim DC films like Man of Steel and Batman V. Superman.
The character is the first to be introduced that wasn’t part of that initial batch of heroes in Justice League, which makes a bit of sense: DC has pulled back from its more ambitious overarching Expanded Universe in favor of films that are a bit more standalone following the success of Wonder Woman. While that means that the character isn’t as readily recognizable to filmgoing audiences, Marvel has certainly demonstrated in the last decade that it can maintain a superhero franchise with characters that audiences aren’t as familiar with, like Ant-Man or Iron Man. DC and Warner Bros. is undoubtably hoping that standalone films featuring these types of characters will bring the same success to its own, beleaguered series.
Shazam opens on April 19th, 2019.
After Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, and Justice League, all of which exist in the same universe, Shazam! looks like it’s going to be a breath of fresh air for the DC Extended Universe. Very happy, very silly fresh air.
If you’re unfamiliar with the classic superhero and/or not been following io9's coverage, Shazam the superhero is, in fact, a young boy named Billy Batson (played by Asher Angel), who transforms into an adult superhero (Chuck’s Zachary Levi) when he yells “Shazam!” As the trailer shows, Billy is totally down with his new powers—and his new age.
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Directed by David F. Sandberg, starring Zachary Levi and Shazam also stars Mark Strong as the villain Dr. Silva, Djimon Hounsou as the Wizard that grants Billy his powers, and more.
Shazam! shazams it’s way into theaters on April 5, 2019.
Warner Bros. just dropped the SDCC teaser trailer for Shazam online moments ago. And the verdict? Well, it looks like a lot of silly fun. The concept seems to be essentially "Big, but with superpowers," which may be enough to make it more than "just a superhero flick." I am impressed at how it is clearly a lighter, campier and more kid-friendly action comedy while still clearly taking place in Zack Snyder's established DC Universe. And David F. Sandberg seems to be channeling the family melodrama that worked so well for Lights Out, albeit with a slightly different tone.
Of the various upcoming DC Films movies, this is probably the most challenging. Why? Well, because Shazam is not a terribly well-known character to general audiences. And since he's not by-himself a global icon like Wonder Woman or Superman, at least part of the sell will have to be "another superhero from the DC Films universe." That would be great if DC Films was a super-trustworthy brand. But, if anything, the opposite is true. Yes, Wonder Woman kicked butt and Zack Snyder's first two Superman movies have their merits (and defenders), but saying "from the studio that brought you Justice League and Suicide Squad" isn't the best sell.
And it won't help that Walt Disney is opening Captain Marvel just a month prior to Shazam, as I would imagine the MCU's first female-led solo superhero flick will get a lot more free ink than this comparatively less event-y superhero movie. And if Disney decides to move Avengers 4 up to late April, well, that has to be something keeping the WB executives up at night. Nonetheless, this does look like good fun, a kind of superhero movie for a time when Sky High was considered as good as it got for kid-targeted superhero adventures.
That it looks and feels different enough from Dawn of Justice AND Wonder Woman AND Aquaman is encouraging for the idea of making these films stand-alone biggies that have a loose connection to a trilogy of Zack Snyder Superman flicks. And if Wonder Woman 1984 kicks ass yet again, plus (miracles can happen) that Todd Phillips Joker movie turns out to be at least halfway decent, well, then the 2020 SDCC panel will be singing a very different tune.
But that's a long way off. For now, it is beyond ironic that Warner Bros. is offering Aquaman and Shazam at the 2018 SDCC panel, five years after they shot themselves in the foot by announcing Batman v Superman instead of Man of Steel 2. Long story short, the tone of Aquaman and Shazam seems to resemble what Man of Steel probably would have been in the first place, and what audiences indeed wanted from their big superhero comic book flicks.
Shazam, starring Zack Levi as Shazam, Asher Ange as Billy Batson, and Mark Strong as (the wonderfully named) Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, opens April 5, 2019. I can't wait to see the R-rated "ultimate cut" of this one.
