Shazam! Just like that, long in development plans for a big screen take on DC comics hero Captain Marvel/Shazam are gone. Director Peter Segal, whose latest film GRUDGE MATCH is now playing, had been attached to bring a movie version of the kid turned superhero to life and now it appears that those plans are cancelled. Speaking to Coming Soon, Segal explained what happened to his kid-friendly take on the comic titled BILLY BATSON AND THE LEGEND OF SHAZAM!
Well, it wasn’t. I was working with Geoff Johns. At its core, it’s a lot like Superman. There’s this boy trapped inside of a superhero’s body. He’s still a boy inside, so there’s this opportunity to play a lot of humor with the action. Originally, Stan Lee brought me “Fantastic Four” a number of years for that very reason. I always have the question when people bring me superhero properties, “Why me?” With Stan, he said, “It’s because there’s a sense of humor within all Marvel characters.” These characters are flawed and, within those flaws, there is humor. When Toby Emmerich came to me with Shazam, it was because of those same reasons. To draw from that humor and to mix it with great action and pathos. I’ve always loved Shazam, but I don’t know if it’s going to see the light of day anytime soon.
Shazam is very similar to Superman at a general level, but the idea of a kid becoming a hero and joining forces with Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and the rest of the DC heroes is ripe for a big screen incarnation. It would require some adjustments since you cannot call your hero Captain Marvel in this day and age. But, to say that he doesn’t fit in with the new emerging DC Cinematic Universe is not true. I think he may be lower on the totem pole than Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, and others, but Shazam is still a worthwhile character to develop.