I Wish 'Shazam!' Made a Gutsy "Captain Marvel" Reference

Shazam! marks the live-action, big screen debut in the Golden Age of comic book cinema for Captain Marvel.  No, not that Captain Marvel.  I mean the original Captain Marvel.  It’s kind of sad, really, that this superhero, which used to be more popular than Superman at one point in history, can’t be known now by his original name – a name that was actually first his.

He had been screwed badly.

A long time ago, Captain Marvel was not a part of DC Comics.  Fawcett owned him.  But a copyright infringement suit from DC played a part in the ceasing of publication of his comics.  Later, since they couldn’t publish him anymore, Fawcett was left with no choice but sell his rights to DC.

Moreover, those years that Captain Marvel was on hiatus gave Marvel Comics the opportunity to create their own superhero named “Captain Marvel.”  It was mostly a business decision than a creative one as the intent was to control the name and keep its use inside Marvel.  This led to Marvel Comics getting the trademark for the title “Captain Marvel.”  And thus, even though the original Captain Marvel returned to comics after being integrated into the DC Universe, he couldn’t be marketed as “Captain Marvel.”

For years, DC Comics had to use the Shazam! to name and promote his comics.  Then, in 2011, at the onset of the New 52, DC threw their hands up in the air – stopping the continued naming of “Captain Marvel” for the character, and settling with exclusively naming him “Shazam”, since plenty of people had assumed that was his name anyway due to being marketed as such.

I understood that it made sense business-wise, but still, it didn’t story-wise.  That would mean he would revert back to Billy Batson whenever he introduces himself.  “Who are you?”  “I am Shazam!”  Crack!  Back to Billy Batson.

Anyway, the movie Shazam! follows Billy Batson (Asher Angel), a 14-year-old boy who has gained the reputation of being a troublemaker and constantly running away from the foster homes he’s put in while he relentlessly searches for his real mother.  One day, two things happen that change his life forever.  First, he’s taken in by Victor (Cooper Andrews) and Rosa Vasquez (Marta Milans), a kind-hearted couple who has a soft spot for foster kids – as they used to be ones themselves –  and has already been taking care of five: superhero superfan Frederick “Freddy” Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer); college aspirant Mary Bromfield (Grace Fulton); the enthusiastic, demonstrative Darla Dudley (Faithe Herman); techie and gamer Eugene Choi (Ian Chen); and the reserved Pedro Peña (Jovan Armand).  Second, he’s magically whisked to a mystical lair, where a wizard (Djimon Hounsou) transfers to him his powers before turning to dust; and as a result, he gains the ability of transforming into a multi-powered, adult superhero (Zachary Levi) whenever he exclaims, “Shazam!”

And, no.  He wasn’t referred to as “Captain Marvel” at any point in the movie.  I knew from the start that such a thing was unlikely to happen.  But, still, if it had given me that pleasure, it would have automatically become my most favorite film of the year so far.  At the very least, I would have been satisfied if there was a humorous “nudge, nudge, wink, wink” reference to it, like “Captain Marvel – ous.”  Unfortunately, it didn’t even have that.

Some are calling Shazam! the DCEU’s best film yet.  I don’t feel the same.  I don’t think it’s better than Aquaman and Wonder Woman – still the top two in my book.  Nevertheless, it’s a fun, fine film.  It works as a solo outing, and is adequately refreshing in how it has conducted itself as a superhero movie.  It has heart, decent laughs, and lesson-filled themes.  I liked it overall.

However, I think it’s a tad overrated.  There were aspects that just didn’t work for me, and I felt the writing was inconsistent in some parts.

Billy and Freddy are a bit obnoxious in some scenes, although I get that’s the whole point – teenagers are obnoxious, and that’s exactly how they would have behaved in such situations.  Nevertheless, that doesn’t change the fact that they irritated me sometimes.

In relation to this, Billy’s character arc could have used a bit more depth and polish as well as a better execution.

Zachary Levi is fun to watch though.  I didn’t immediately like him – mostly because his physique looked weird and off as Shazam – but he won me over with his performance and personality after a while.

Meanwhile, despite the effort put on providing him a backstory, Mark Strong’s Thaddeus Sivana has been a bland villain.  However, a cool thing about this movie is how it becomes straightup horror (should not really be a surprise since director David F. Samberg  has made his name helming horror films), pushing the boundaries of its PG-13 rating, in some scenes, and this character is in most of them.  My favorite of which is the boardroom scene.  (On a side note: one of the film’s best jokes also involves him.  I would have definitely laughed harder if I hadn’t seen something greatly similar before in Gigguk’s “Attack on Titan in 9 minutes” video in Youtube.)

In the end, Shazam! requires some amount of childlike sensibilities to be fully appreciated.  For it is conspicuously flawed, but it entertains wonderfully as a goofy, upbeat superhero blockbuster.