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Warner bros announce superhero films through 2020

Imagine if the Internet existed in the 1970s and this image of Christopher Reeve's Superman screen test had leaked
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So . . . Zachary Levi has been selected to play Shazam. Considering that I've never been a Shazam fan in the first place, I now have another reason to avoid the movie.
 
This casting has made me optimistic about Shazam. I am not a massive fan of Captain Marvel but have read some of his books over the years. It annoys me DC has changed so much in recent years. I understand the legal issues but I wish they kept Captain as part of Billy's superhero name. Along with the military style uniform of the orignal comics. His superhero identity should be a child's idea of what a hero looks like. I think they should call him Captain Shazam. With the original Wizard called the Wizard Shazam. So Shazam is like a family surname that is passed on.

I casually watched Chuck and like Zack. I am glad they went with an actual actor and not merely an athlete. Like Reeve and Gadot he physically build himself up for the role. Like Reeve he is very tall. I looked it up and Zack is 6'3 ! He will be massive compared to whatever kid they cast as Billy Batson.
 
Look at how skinny Chris Hemsworth was when he was first cast as Thor and then look at how much he bulked up for, well, Thor. Levi is a pretty tall guy, plenty of room there for muscle.
 
Chuck was a great show (except for the finale which I didn't care much for) and Levi was great throughout the show. He's not someone I thought of for the role but I think he's a good pick.
 
My interest in this has jumped like.... 1000%. :hugegrin:

Everybody should watch Chuck, it's amazing. Funny and action-y and some real heart to it. And Levi's chemistry with Yvonne Strahovski is brilliant.

Levi should do great. I'd never have thought of him for the role, but I'm fascinated. He's a really good actor, and despite the skinny/nerdy vibe he gave off in Chuck he could easily be very imposing especially if he buffed up. Plus, he's just so friendly, he'll definitely get the optimism and goodness.
 
JD said:
I just checked on Wikipedia, and he did get an upgrade that gave him martial arts and other abilities. He also played Fandral in the second (and possibly third) Thor movies, and if I remember correctly a fairly action heavy role Heroes Reborn, so he does already have plenty of experience with similar roles.
I seem remember some people saying Gal Galdot was a horrible choice for Wonder Woman, and look how that turned out. I've been happy with pretty much all of the rest of the casting in the DCEU, so I trust them to know what they are doing casting Levi.
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This. I’ve been interested in superhero films for as long as I can remember. And I remember the controversy of the casting of Michael Keaton, Hugh Jackman (too tall, too pretty, a star of musicals!), Ian McKellen (Magneto can’t be gay!), Heath Ledger (Too pretty and conventional to be the Joker), Robert Downey Jr (too er RDJ), Chris Evans (too wiseass for Cap), Tom Hardy (not buff enough for Bane) etc.

Sure, casting agents aren’t infallible and I’m sure someone will point me to horrible miscasting in superhero films (Jesse Eisenberg, Jessica Alba. Saved you two). But there’s generally a reason why they’re paid so well and, as you say, casting in the DCEU has generally been pretty good. So I’ll trust their judgement with Levi.

In particular, I’m always amazed when anyone points to an actor’s build as a reason not to cast them. As well as the examples above, look at how Chris Reeve transformed his body, not to mention the fact that Christian Bale played an almost skeletal man with an eating disorder immediately before Batman Begins. Expect to see paparazzi shots of Levi looking like a tank pretty soon.
 
Dick Whitman said:
I understand the legal issues but I wish they kept Captain as part of Billy's superhero name.
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When Bill Parker and C.C. Beck first created Captain Marvel, they were going to call him Captain Thunder. I wish DC had used that name for the character as soon as they acquired him. It would've avoided a lot of trouble.


His superhero identity should be a child's idea of what a hero looks like.
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I think that's kind of a later retcon. Originally, CM was more like a separate adult being that took over Billy's body or swapped places with him, like Donald Blake and Thor (before Blake was retconned into nonexistence). The idea that he's just Billy Batson's mind in an adult body is more recent. Although, of course, a modern movie is likely to be based on the more recent version of the character.

I recall that Malibu Comics did a character for their Ultraverse called Prime, who was a '90s update of Captain Marvel, a teenager who turned into his image of what a superhero would look like, and so his hero persona was insanely huge and overmuscled even by '90s standards.


Captaindemotion said:
And I remember the controversy of the casting of Michael Keaton
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Who I still think was totally wrong for Batman. Great as the Vulture, though.


Hugh Jackman (too tall, too pretty, a star of musicals!)
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I tend to agree with the "too tall." Wolverine was named after an animal known for being small and scrappy, unexpectedly tough for its size. It's hard to understand why someone of Jackman's size would be given that nickname in-universe (although X-Men Origins: Wolverine did come up with a decent rationale for that). And the handsome leading man version of Wolverine is a major departure from the animalistic savage in the comics. Not that it didn't work as its own thing, but it was more a case of the character changing to fit the actor than the reverse.


Ian McKellen (Magneto can’t be gay!),
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Magneto being gay would make perfect sense, actually, since the Nazis were as dedicated to exterminating gays as Jews, Roma, the disabled, and most everyone else. Okay, Magneto has a few kids here and there, at least when they haven't been retconned away as not really his kids after all, but lots of gay men throughout history have gotten married and procreated for one reason or another.

Although, of course, it makes no sense to equate an actor's sexuality with that of their character. That's kind of misunderstanding what acting is.


Robert Downey Jr (too er RDJ)
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I don't recall a lot of complaining about that casting. If anything, I thought the sentiment was that he was quite a good fit for the part, both in appearance and in his own bad-boy history.
 
Yes, Captain Thunder would have been my first choice. Apparently in the early 80s writer Roy Thomas proposed a reboot that used the name Captain Thunder and would have made him and Billy, African American. Here is art drawn by Don Newton and inked by future Captain Marvel artist Jerry Ordway. I really wish DC had approved this! It would have solved the legal issues and the perception that the character is a copy of Superman.
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Nah. I had relatively little interest in this film before but now that Chuck is the star, I’m all in.
 
Mark Strong was so good as Sinestro, and by far the best part of that movie. I kinda-sorta wish they'd just bring him into the DCEU as Sinestro again, like how Casino Royale retained Judi Dench as M even though that movie was technically starting a new continuity separate from Pierce Brosnan's Bond films.
 
Jar Jar Binks said:
Mark Strong was so good as Sinestro, and by far the best part of that movie. I kinda-sorta wish they'd just bring him into the DCEU as Sinestro again, like how Casino Royale retained Judi Dench as M even though that movie was technically starting a new continuity separate from Pierce Brosnan's Bond films.
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I second that nomination!

With all the make up...could he do both???
 
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