Are we ever going to see that Captain Marvel movie that was rumored to be in the works, any time soon? According to Geoff Johns, head of DC Entertainment, don’t give up hope just yet.
Since 2009, we’ve been hearing rumors that “The Big Red Cheese”, Captain Marvel (or Shazam as many non fanboys know him), was slated for the big screen, only to wind up in developmental hell. In fact over seven screenwriters tackled the screenplay before popular DC Comics scribe and Head of Entertainment, Geoff Johns took a crack at it.
All seemed A-OK, and then nothing. According to Johns, “there’s still hope.” But fans still wait for that magic word— SHAZAM! To be shouted at them in Dolby surround sound.
Even Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who’s been long-rumored to be first pick to play CM villain Black Adam, says “he’s there” if the movie ever gets made and that he loves the idea of playing Black Adam.
Now I know that DC “officially” changed Captain Marvel’s name to Shazam last year, citing that the change occurred because most people think that’s the character’s name, but the other reason for the “official” change is because of an old lawsuit that Marvel brought against DC regarding the use of the name Captain Marvel. Marvel won and settled for DC only using the name Captain Marvel, inside the comics, but not on the cover of any book— hence DC had to use Shazam on the covers of any titles starring CM.
The dumb thing about “officially” naming the character Shazam is that he can never tell anyone his name, because when he utters the word Shazam he transforms back into his true self, 12yr old Billy Batson (and visa versa)— Shazam is the name of the wizard that gave young Billy his powers.
Captain Marvel was created in 1939, by artist C.C. Beck and writer Bill Parker and first appeared in Whiz Comics #2 (published by Fawcett Comics). Fawcett Comics published the exploits of CM until 1953, due to a lawsuit brought on by DC Comics— DC claimed that CM was a rip off of their character, Superman. Incidentally, CM was outselling Superman comics by a wide margin throughout the 40’s and in fact CM was the most popular superhero in the 1940’s. Maybe that had something to do with the lawsuit… just saying.
Ironically DC picked up the rights to Captain Marvel in 1972, but during the Big Red Cheeses’ absence from comics, Marvel secured the rights to use the name Captain Marvel for their character— a Kree Warrior, turned Earth superhero, named Mar-vell.
Although popular film star, Fred MacMurray (Double Indemnity, The Apartment, The Caine Mutiny, My Three Sons, The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor) was the visual inspiration for Captain Marvel’s look, the actor never portrayed the character. However in 1941, CM did appear in a low budget film-series called The Adventures of Captain Marvel, a twelve- part serial produced by Republic Pictures, making him the first superhero to appear on the silver screen. In the mid-nineteen seventies, CM starred a popular live-action, Saturday morning kid show called Shazam!, which aired from 1974 to 1977. The character has also made guest appearances over the years in various DC animated shows and DVD’s as well as video games and tons of merchandising.
Although Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been given a big thumbs-up by fans and filmmakers attached to the CM movie, no one has mentioned their top picks for the title roll.
Should there be a Captain Marvel Movie? If so, who would make a great Captain Marvel/Shazam? Please let us know what you think.
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