Shazam! project to be retooled: Enter The Black Adam

[Spaceman Spiff]

Comic fans may prefer Black Adam, but I think this is one of the few cases where the studio is better off ignoring the existing audience and going for the broader appeal. I'd bet that even the percentage of comic fans who care about Black Adam is fairly low.

But a kid who says a magic word to turn into a superhero is about as pure a concept as you can get, as far as a kids-oriented movie is concerned. Captain Marvel could be a gateway drug for future comic fans.

 

[tharpdevenport]

"Shazam!" has all the marking of ending up starring Chris Rock, being directed by some loser like Keenen Ivory Wayans, then get bad test screening, heavilg editing and reshooting, rejecting a score and hiring someone like Marco Beltrami three days before premiere. Face it.

 

[Mr Light]

My only exposure to Marvel is in Inf Crisis and 52 and Jeff Smith's mini. Of those, the only time I found him an interesting character was in Jeff Smith's mini. Black Adam is a much more interesting character.

 

[Gryffindorian]

A dark movie how? The only way to make it even work would be to cast Black Adam as the main villain. But Dr. Sivana? No. For a more PG or general-audience appeal, I suppose they could choose the 7 Deadly Sins in the wizard's cave? I liked the JLA/JSA crossover "Virtue and Vice," which featured the Sins.

 

[drychlick]

i love light movie! i as so sick of dark movie! superman return was bad made superman as a dead beat dad! being on shazam the fun hero!

 

[ClayinCA]

But a kid who says a magic word to turn into a superhero is about as pure a concept as you can get, as far as a kids-oriented movie is concerned. Captain Marvel could be a gateway drug for future comic fans.

Absolutely, and it scares the crap out of me that nobody involved with the movie seems to get this. Shazam! should be tonally like a Pixar film, albeit live-action--a true family film, as opposed to a kids' movie or (God help us) a "dark" movie.

 

[Greg Cox]

But a kid who says a magic word to turn into a superhero is about as pure a concept as you can get, as far as a kids-oriented movie is concerned. Captain Marvel could be a gateway drug for future comic fans.

Amen! SHAZAM is, at heart, a kid's wish-fulfillment fantasy. Trying to making it appeal to teens and adults is missing the point . . . .

 

[SiddFinch1]

Amen! SHAZAM is, at heart, a kid's wish-fulfillment fantasy. Trying to making it appeal to teens and adults is missing the point . . . .

Exactly. You can't go dark with this one.