The DCEU has really changed its gears as Wonder Woman has given them the proper kick-Start that they really needed after Man of Steel and Batman v Superman got mixed reviews even though they did well at the Box-Office. The upcoming Justice League movie is supposed to change everything about the DC Extended Universe and by the looks of the trailers we have seen till now, it surely will.
After Justice League, WB has already set up a slate of movies that are already under production and will hit the theatres in the coming years. The next movie that is already under production is Aquaman which is coming out in December 2018. After Aquaman, we have got three movies that are under works for a 2019 release which is SHAZAM, The Batman and Wonder Woman 2. Out of these, SHAZAM is the one which is under active production.
The director Sandberg teased fans about his impending superhero feature. The director reached out to writer Henry Gayden to praise his “latest draft” of ‘Shazam’. However, if you look closely at the tweet below, you will see the script isn’t exactly what it appears to be.
The script starts with a Red and Blue blur in the sky. Then the blur appears to be none other than the Man of Steel himself. Billy Batson is not very impressed with Superman and after seeing the Kryptonian, he exclaims, “Oh, is dis bitch. Hold my beer Tawny.” Tawny of course is a dapper looking Tiger who is a supporting character of Shazam in the comics. After a moment, Billy transforms into Shazam and asks Superman if he is “back for another whoopin’” to which Clark declines. The script says Superman “quickly puts on a pair of glasses like a bitch,” making makes Shazam lose sight of him.
Recently, it was announced that the ‘Chuck’ star Zachary Levi that is going to star in SHAZAM! and will play the role of Billy Batson, aka SHAZAM. He will don red suit and white lightning bolt in the DCEU’s Shazam. There were various actors that were being looked upon to take on this role before Levi had been finalized.
Earlier, there were two actors that were the possible candidates to play the older, super-powered version of Billy Batson. According to the sources earlier, John Cena and Joshua Sasse were the tentative frontrunners for the part.
Billy Batson is a young boy who has the ability to transform into an adult Superhero who has lightning and mystical powers. This happens when he utters the word ‘Shazam!’ Shazam is actually a combination that represents 6 mythical figures who grant their powers to Billy Batson. They are Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury.
Zach Levi is a very capable actor and he has what it needs to be SHAZAM in the movie which is going to be very light hearted and totally different from the other superhero movies that are being developed in the DC Films Universe. Levi is not new to comic book roles as we last saw him in Thor: The Dark World as Fandral, who is one of the warriors three. This makes him the 4th actor to have a role in both MCU and the DC Films Universe. Along with Thor, he has also appeared in Heroes: Reborn.
This is going to be David F. Sandberg’s first massive action superhero flick. He had previously made Annabelle: Creation and Lights Out, and both of them turned out to be box office success for WB, which is what lead him to sign up for this Superhero flick. He has gotten a great opportunity to give us a story about a superhero who is not as popular as the rest of the Justice League members.
The most interesting thing about Billy Batson is that he was not originally called as Shazam, instead he was known as “Captain Marvel”. Yes, you read that correctly. In 1940, when he first appeared in comics, he was called Captain Marvel. Marvel sensed an opportunity and created their own Captain Marvel. When DC bought the rights to the original in 1970’s, they could not release any comics under his name. Then DC decided to go with the magic word “Shazam” to avoid all kinds of confusion. Infact, when New 52 was launched, DC changed the way he would look and flat out renamed him Shazam.
There will be two Captain Marvel movies releasing in 2019, one from DCEU and another from Marvel. It would be better for DC Movies universe to go the New 52 route and call him Shazam. But there is no limitation on DCEU to go with original name as Marvel rights are very complicated. Also, Levi recently said that he was excited to be “bringing the original Captain Marvel to life”.
Here’s what you need to know about Marvel’s Captain Marvel:
Captain Marvel will be the first Marvel female superhero movie in Phase 4. The Oscar-winning actress Brie Larson (Room, 21 Jump Street; Rachel, Community TV series) is confirmed to play the iconic female superhero as part of the Marvel cinematic universe. The screenplay will be written by Meg LeFauve and Nicole Perlman (of Guardians of the Galaxy fame).
But the sad part is that she won’t appear in Avengers Infinity War. There have been rumors about her presence in the third Avengers movie but Russo’s statement put them to rest for good. But she could certainly be in the fourth movie when things get rough for Avengers and they need a powerful ally to defeat Thanos. Moreover, there is also a possibility that she will replace Captain America and assume leadership role in the Phase 4 of MCU.
The solo movie will be an origin story of Captain Marvel set in 1990’s where Skrulls are the big baddies. Carol Danvers is an airforce pilot who met with a major accident that led to her DNA getting mixed with an alien which gave her super-strength.
Captain Marvel is also famous for being a female superhero who aggressively fight for equal pay for women. On a power level, she is equivalent to Vision or Scarlett Witch, popularly known as Wonder woman of Marvel universe. On a popularity level, Captain Marvel is relatively unknown as compared to Wonder Woman or Black Widow.
Kevin Feige (the head of Marvel studios) said in an interview that Captain Marvel will be the “most powerful” superhero in the Marvel universe. He said:
“With Captain Marvel, there’s so much potential in the comics and there have been so many incarnations of her powers and the characters who’ve had that mantle that we’ve been focusing in on exactly how do we tell her origin. How does it fit into the cosmic side of our universe? How does it fit into what we’re doing with the next Avengers movies? So really, that’s what’s been delaying that particular announcement.”
He added “All of the Marvel characters have flaws to them, all of them have a deep humanity to them. With Captain Marvel, she is as powerful a character as we’ve ever put in a movie. Her powers are off the charts, and when she’s introduced, she will be by far the strongest character we’ve ever had. It’s important, then, to counterbalance that with someone who feels real. She needs to have a humanity to tap into, and Brie can do that.”
In the latest interview with IndieWire, he said:
“Really, the focus now is on delivering Captain Marvel, and then bringing Captain Marvel’s story into the finale of everything we’ve started thus far.”
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