DC Comics has had mixed results with their films. The Batman franchise has done amazingly well. Man of Steel was also very successful. But both Superman vs. Batman and Justice League appear to misfire. While both were billion dollar films neither lived up to the studio’s expectations and Green Lantern was a total failure.
However, the Wonder Woman solo film breathed new life into the DCED, with a film that was not expected to be the blockbuster it became.
Now we have Shazam. Shazam started in Whiz Comics #2 (Feb. 1940) and introduces William Joseph “Billy” Batson, a homeless 12-year-old newsboy who sleeps in the subway station in New York City. A mysterious man in a green cloak asks Billy to follow him into the subway station, where a magic subway car painted in unusual shapes and colors escorts them to an underground throne room, which is inhabited by a very old man with a long beard and a white robe. As the man in green disappears, the old man on the throne explains to Billy that he is the Wizard Shazam, and has used the powers of “the gods” – Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury, hence the name “Shazam” – to fight evil for over 3,000 years. However, he has now grown too old to continue and is in need of a successor. The wizard explains that Billy was chosen due to his misfortune: he had been thrown out by a greedy uncle who stole his inheritance following the deaths of his parents. Ordered by the wizard to speak the name “Shazam,” Billy is struck by a sudden bolt of lightning and transformed into a superpowered adult Captain Marvel.
In 1988 Tom Hanks starred in the film Big, in which 12-year-old Josh Baskin, who lives with his parents and infant sister in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, is told he is too short for a carnival ride called the Ring of Fire while attempting to impress Cynthia Benson, an older girl. He puts a coin into an unusual antique arcade fortune teller machine called Zoltar Speaks and makes a wish to be “big”. It dispenses a card stating “Your wish is granted”, but Josh is spooked to see it was unplugged the entire time. The next morning, Josh has been transformed into a 30-year-old man.
As you can see the plot is basically similar. A child is turned into an adult through the use of magic.
Big was a successful comedy and superhero movies, especially DC superhero movies have been very serious. Marvel, on the other hand, has injected humor into their movies, with Deadpool, one of their most successful movies being a comedy with no seriousness.
Shazam will be a gamble for DC much like bet365 casino offers is a gamble in the real world, as DC moves away from their successful formula from Batman and they try to channel Tom Hanks from Big, to play their version of Captain Marvel.
Levi has worked very consistently since 2001 and is best known for his role as Chuck in a television show of the same name. His role as Chuck has prepared him for Shazam as an action comedy movie.
You may have seen Levi in such projects as…
Untitled Sisqo Project 2001
Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie 2002
Less than Perfect 2002–06
See Jane Date 2003
The Division 2004
Curb Your Enthusiasm 2004
Brody & Friends 2005
Reel Guerrillas 2005
Big Momma’s House 2 2006
Worst Week of My Life 2006
Spiral 2007
Ctrl Z 2007
Imperfect Union 2007
Chuck 2007–12
Wieners 2008
The Tiffany Problem 2008
An American Carol 2008
Shades of Ray 2008
Stuntmen 2009
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel 2009
Byron Phillips: Found 2010
Tangled 2010
Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story 2010
No Rest For the Wicked: Moebius and Basil Adventures 2011
Team Unicorn 2011
2011 Spike Video Game Awards 2011
Vietnam in HD 2011
Tangled Ever After 2012
Defeat the Label 2012
4 Points 2012
Robot Chicken 2012
Thor: The Dark World 2013
Remember Sunday 2013
Hollywood Game Night 2014–15
Heroes Reborn 2015
Geeks Who Drink 2015
Telenovela 2015
The $100,000 Pyramid 2016
Thor: Ragnarok 2017
The Star 2017
Tangled: Before Ever After 2017
Alias Grace 2017
Psych: The Movie 2017
Tangled: The Series 2017–present
Office Uprising 2018
Blood Fest 2018
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel 2018
Shazam! 2019
Fans of the action comedy genre have a lot to look forward to this coming April.
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