It has been announced that the upcoming Shazam! movie will be set in the same cinematic universe as Man of Steel, Batman Vs. Superman, Justice League, etc. That and the fact that The Rock will be playing Black Adam are all we know about the movie thus far. I really want to find out who DC has in mind to portray Captain Marvel - and more importantly Billy Batson. That's the tougher role to fill - the producers clearly would like several movie appearances out of Shazam if they are incorporating him into their shared universe, and that means finding someone young enough to play the part of Billy for a decade or more. You don't want a 22 year old kid transforming into an adult, It doesn't really work that way.
Cap and Thor have clashed once before, way back in STF #120.
Actually, they had one "real-world" encounter before that! In the first issue of DC VS. MARVEL, if memory serves.
ReplyDeleteWith Thor defeating Cap by using Mjolnir to absorb the latter's lightning.
I'd say that Billy is pre-teen isn't he? Around 11 or 12? That may be flexible, but the gimmick was a kid like Dick Grayson or Jimmy Olsen with the power of Superman. That's pretty timeless. It's probably going to be an unknown as both Billy and the Captain...
ReplyDeleteI'm not really confident in the direction Warner Bros. is taking the DC cinematic universe, though...
I'd have to agree with Airdave. If for no other reason than Marvel Comics' ownership of the copyright on the name "Captain Marvel" will probably necessitate the use of some law-bending euphemism.
ReplyDeleteLike "Capt. Shazam."
Marvel doesn't own the copyright on the name "Captain Marvel," but they do own the Trademark for purposes of using that name as a title. When DC first brought back the Fawcett character, they had to call the comic "Shazam!" with the byline "featuring the original Captain Marvel!"
ReplyDeleteAnd I kind of liked having "The Original" on Cap's logo. I think it would serve well here, in the pages of STF:LI.
As for Billy's age, something in the recesses of my memory says that he was given to be 8 years old when he first became Captain Marvel. If they got an 8-year-old boy to play Billy (and I've seen kids that age with some really good acting chops -- even worked with a couple) he could be 11 for a second movie and 14 for a third.
I also recall that, in Alex Ross' "Kingdom Come," Billy was an adult who looked essentially identical to his Captain Marvel persona. That would be an interesting twist down the road for a cinematic version.
On another note, since these two have been at odds twice now, I'd like to see a cover later one where they're firmly on the same side.
I agree with Air Dave, again. Maybe they could team up against the Man-Beast and his newest renegade Knight of Wundagore.
ReplyDeleteSir Talky-Tawny.
Bob G. is right. You can't copyright a name or phrase, but you can trademark it; which means that as long as Marvel is publishing a magazine called Captain Marvel, DC may not use that name on covers (they soon had to remove "The Original Captain Marvel" from Shazam covers), in advertising, or on licensed products (like toys, movies, or TV shows). No DC product can have the words "Captain Marvel" (or even "Mary Marvel") on the packaging or in the ads. This is why most non-comics readers think that Shazam is the hero's name -- just like how in the early days of Charles Schulz' strip, many people thought that Charlie Brown's name was "Peanuts."
ReplyDeleteHe'll always be Captain Marvel to me, though (Captain Marvel, I mean; not Charlie Brown), and I haven't bought any issues since DC wimped out and actually changed his name to "Shazam."
Which is why "Capt. Shazam," at least, would be slightly more tolerable (if not preferable).
ReplyDeleteI was always partial to Captain Thunder.
ReplyDeleteHere's a weird thought: Thor has long been friends with Hercules, no? What would happen if the Marvel incarnations of the gods who make up the name "Shazam" chose to withhold their 'gifts'? That might still leave Captain Marvel with the wisdom of Solomon, the invulnerability(?) of Achilles and arguably the stamina of Atlas (depending on if you count him as a titan or a god), but it would definitely give Thor an edge.
ReplyDeleteThere was a story from Fawcett of a time when Billy went into the future in which many words were abbreviated, so the magic wod was "Shaz!" The Cap Marv who appeared then lacked the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury, with comedic results.
DeleteIn a DC story in the 1980's Dr. Sivana was able to get diferent aspects of the Elders into Captain Marvel, like Solomon's love of luxury and Hercules' pride (I think) while he took the powers. the story did not develop the concept as far as it could have gone, but it was an interesting idea.
Black Adam... again? Roy Thomas seems to have accidentally gotten a very evil ball rolling when SHAZAML A NEW BEGINNING made Captain marvel's existence all about halting the return of Black Adam, with Sivana reduced to the scientist who accidentally provided a means to do so. And after MOS, haven't we already seen enough of two demi-gods fighting (and demolishing a city full of innocent bystanders) on the big screen? If they absolutely have to have our hero* have a big physical menace, why not take a page out of Grant Morrison's book and bring back one of the Monster Society characters reimagined as a hundred-foot-tall kaiju?
ReplyDelete* Whose name is Captain Marvel. Let's stopping arguing about that, please.
@Anonymous #4: It was almost done.
ReplyDelete@ Bob # 2
ReplyDeleteTruth is often creepier than fiction.
@jrp04f: I wasn't arguing. I was liberally hypothesizing
@Both Bobs: to me, "trademark" and "copyright" are inseparably synonymous.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous
ReplyDelete"@jrp04f: I wasn't arguing. I was liberally hypothesizing "
And I wasn't accusing you of arguing, specifically. I was referring to the general argument among comic fans of adopting Shazam as the Mightiest One's official name -- on the covers, anyway -- over Captain Marvel.