Within the Golden Age of comics, when he was nonetheless often called Captain Marvel, Shazam proved widespread sufficient to out-sell even Superman comics. And DC wasn’t too happy that what they noticed as a Man of Metal rip-off was getting a lot consideration. They determined to sue Fawcett within the Forties, with the 2 firms ultimately settling and Fawcett agreeing to finish the publication of its comics.
However within the ’70s, comedian books had been amid a resurgence in reputation, and DC determined to resurrect the long-retired character by the use of a licensing settlement with Fawcett. Sadly, by that time, Marvel Comics had launched their very own hero often called Captain Marvel, which meant DC had no selection however to rename their newly-licensed hero to “Shazam!” (who even received his TV present that ran from 1974 to 1976 on CBS).
In 2023, Zachary Levi’s big-screen model of Shazam returns with “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” the place he’ll tackle Helen Mirren’s Hespera alongside his “Shazamily” of super-powered foster siblings. It seems to be to have a equally light-hearted tone to the primary film, even whereas Billy Batson’s Philadelphia takes a good pummeling if the “Fury of the Gods” trailer is something to go by. Mirren — who took her motion scenes so severely she managed to bust her finger — additionally seems to be a suitably menacing adversary, who alongside Lucy Liu’s Kalypso might show to result in Shazam’s finish.
However between the epic battles and vengeful goddesses, there’s additionally a quick point out of Shazam’s authentic title within the movie. At one level, none aside from Michael Grey from the previous Shazam TV present tells Levi’s hero: “You are the most effective, Captain Marvel!” And based on director David F. Sandberg, he did not assume he’d truly get that Easter egg previous DC.