This is the third part of the three-part blog update based on the news of the past few days.
When last we left our story, we had mentioned that Dwayne Johnson (the actor whose pro wrestling persona is known as "The Rock") had referred to the hero in the upcoming DC movie "Shazam!" as "Captain Marvel." Whether this was a slip of the tongue, as DC may be using the New 52 version of the character, whose name is "Shazam," as the hero, or a reveal that the hero will be some version of the original Captain Marvel, is still undetermined, and was not the point of the comment. The point was that the plan for what had originally been announced (Johnson appearing as Black Adam in "Shazam!") had been changed:
"What we decided to do was to create a scenario where Black Adam has his
stand-alone movie, and Captain Marvel, Shazam, has his stand-alone
movie," he told MTV. "We're building our world that way, and then we can come together at some point."
So that was back in April. Of course, the Interwebs being what they are, what this exactly meant had swirled around, so apparently someone had to get the situation clarified. Thus, it should not be a surprise that just a couple of days ago, CinemaBlend posted an article titled "DC Sets the Record Straight on The Rock Appearing in Shazam." In this article they posted the following quotation:
"We haven't announced any casting yet. But Dwayne isn't going to be in this movie. He's still doing Black Adam, but he won't be in Shazam!"
This was from an interview on Yahoo moviesearlier that day. Interestingly, this article is weighing in that the hero in the movie will be named "Shazam."
Reasons for this have been stated to include things about Johnson' schedule and so forth, which is reasonable, considering how freakin' busy the guy is. But what this also means is that what could have been potentially the biggest attraction of the "Shazam!" movie is now not a part of it. Consipiracy theorists could easily rave that this is another way of DC screwing over the character. Neither Dr. Sivana nor Mr. Mind, Captain Marvel's two other archest enemies, may not carry the same degree of gravitas into a movie. They certainly would not be able to put up the same kind of physical challenge (barring the introduction of a juiced-up Magnificus Sivana or Mr. Mind commanding Mr. Atom against the World's Mightiest Mortal). Perhaps we could say that the announcement and all the business towards the production of a "Shazam!" movie was just a ploy to lure Johnson to be in a DC movie, and now that he is not going to be in "Shazam!" the big-screen dreams of the Big Red Cheese will go the way of the previous versions of the movie that died in pre-production hell in the '00's
We will see...
So to wrap up the news for the week (much of which happens to be coming out of San Diego Comic Con):
The DC movie "Shazam!" has been announced to start filming in February 2018.
David F. Sandberg has been announced to direct it.
Dwayne Johnson's portrayal of the character Black Adam has been announced to not be in it.
In that hazy realm in which Clickbait resides, somewhere between news, rumor, speculations, wishful thinking, and misinterpretation based on wishful thinking after a rumor gets started based on a scrap of news, lay the fate of DC's "Shazam!" movie. All that was certain, for the longest time, was that Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson would play Black Adam in this movie. This was announced way back in 2014. But after several scripts and directors had be lined up in the stillborn attempt at producing this movie in the previous decade, there seemed to be no further developments for this one now.
My previous posts have reported on things that may or may not have been baseless rumors or legitimate news, but today I am just too busy to go on my traditional "clickbait roundup" to find all the angles on all the elements of the story that have broken in the last few days.
We will start with the report from Cinema Blend three days ago that the "Shazam!" movie has a production start date. This date would be in February of 2017, putting it in line with the start date for Marvel's "Captain Marvel" movie.
In case you just started reading comics and following them on the Interwebs four days ago, the reason we are tracking these two movies here on "Captain Marvel Culture" is because "Shazam!" (complete with exclamation point) is the trademark by which DC markets their character known as Captain Marvel. This character was originally produced by Fawcett Publications in comic books dated from 1940-1953. The reasons for his demise are too complex to get into here, but twenty years later DC licensed the character from Fawcett. Marvel, in the meantime, had created their own Captain Marvel (again: long story) and trademarked the name, so DC had to come up with something different. Since the source of Captain Marvel's power's were the magic word "Shazam!" it was decided to make that the title of the comic book, and it has been the trademark by which DC has marketed the character. He was still called "Captain Marvel" inside the books and on the TV shows and in the View-Master Slides, but never on a cover or box. This led to confusion. finally DC, who had fully acquired the rights to the character in 1991, re-interpreted him for their "New 52" reboot of their entire universe, and that character is named "Shazam," ending the confusion...not really. It just led to more confusion.
But confusion aside, Marvel had scheduled their "Captain Marvel" movie for a release date slightly before DC's "Shazam!" Could that have been so that their "captain Marvel hero would hit the big screen before DC's Captain Marvel? Conspiracy theorists have had fun with this. In fact, there are theories, rumors, speculation, and other claptrap about Marvel finally "winning the rights" to the name for DC or something, or there being some sort of deal whereby DC agreed never to use the name "Captain Marvel" again...
...but I am not buying most of it. Marvel can be perfectly justified in protecting their copyright by making sure there is always a Captain Marvel in the MCU, and DC can decide to finally create a superhero with the same name as the title of his comic book without there having been some sort of apocalyptic "deal" or anyone doing anything underhandedly competitive. It's all just business-oriented decisions, for better or worse.
for the Record, right now, as it stands, Marvel's "Captain Marvel" is scheduled to start shooting in February of 2018, and be released on March 8, 2019, and DC's "Shazam!" is said to be starting production in February 2018 for an April 5, 2019 release.
This is it! Real news! No more speculation! Not a rumor! Not speculation! Not a fictional story! Actual news, and both the legit and clickbait press are all over it!
The news is that Marvel Studio's Captain Marvel has found its director! It is actually going to be a directorial team, that of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, known for their work on such films as 2006’s Half Nelson, starring Ryan Gosling, 2008's Sugar, starring Algenis Perez solo, 2011’s It’s Kind of a Funny Story, with Zach Galifianakis, and 2015’s Mississippi Grind, starring Ryan Reynolds (note how by including the dates and stars you can draw more search-engine attention). I have not seen any of these movies, not really even heard of them. I guess I have to see a few of these movies to form an educated opinion about their style.
Ashley Rodriguez of Quartz Media has given the most detailed analysis of the duo's previous work, and certainly is the most supportive and optimistic about the potential of their work in this movie. Silas Lesnick of ComingSoon gave the most specific description of why their previous work made them good candidates for this job. Michael Cavena of the Chicago Tribune pointed out they they had worked with superhero movie actors before, including Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool, Green Lantern) and Ben Mendelsohn (The Dark Knight Returns) in Mississippi Grind. They failed to mention Anthony Mackie (Captain America: Winter Soldier), in Half Nelson, but Kat Stubing, writing for Outer Places, did not.
Stubing also pointed out that other non-superhero/action/sci-fi/etc directors have done superhero movies, specifically the Russo Brothers (the TV series Arrested Development) on two Captain America movies. There is no argument that those were successful, both creatively, commercially, and as "superhero movies."
One thing I have noticed, though, is that bringing in a non-superhero/fantasy/adventure director into the superhero genre has its risks. Ang Lee, who made a big splash when after directing such art house fare as Eat Drink Man Woman he introduced the arthouse crowd to kung fu flicks with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, crafted a slow-paced (if visually interesting) treatsie on child abuse called The Hulk. So far, this is the only Marvel Cinematic Universe movie that has not spawned a direct sequel. Kenneth Brannagh, who made his career doing Shakespeare on film, seemed like an inspired choice for Thor, but despite certain thematic similarities to Shakespeare's multi-play saga of Prince Hal/Henry V, and the comic book tradition of the thunder god speaking in "Shakespearean English," this effort did not quite match the power and intensity of his Henry V, and he did not return for the sequel.
On the other hand, an artist to trying a new genre in their medium has a tendency to attract attention.
The first "breaker" of the story of the director announcement appears to have been Variety, as most of the first wave of clickbait basically re-hash the facts in Variety's article. The better ones put a few opinions in and flesh out the background of the new directors and the history of the project.
Hollywood Reporter and WhereToWatch, for instance, included the info that among those considered were Lesli Linka Glatter (Homeland), Lorene Scafaria (The Meddler), Niki Caro (Whale Rider, The Zookeeper’s Wife), Lucia Aniello (Rough Night), Sam Taylor-Johnson (F.ifty Shades of Grey), Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) and Jennifer Yuh (Kung Fu Panda 2). They did not mention Angelina Jolie, proving either a: That she had been an unsubstantiated rumor all along or b: They were not trying to draw her fans in with clickbait. But James Whitbrook of Gizmodo did.
THe Hundustan Times actually posted trailers for two of the team's previous movies, Half Nelson and Mississippi Grind.
This writer on Makers went a little overboard, I think, with the hyperbole on the excitement over the high degree of estrogen involved in this film, judging by the Tweets she posted.
Then some follow-up news happened (to be continued)...
PS: To make sue the search engines find this when looking for this movie, the writers are Meg LeFauve and Nicole Perlman, Captain Marvel is being played by Brie Larsen, and Kevin Feige is the chief of Marvel Studios.
'MEXICO CITY (AP) — Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson says he will play a role
in an upcoming DC Comics movie adaption but has yet to decide between
superhero Shazam and his arch-nemesis Black Adam.
He may not have a hard time making a decision. He told The Associated
Press on Monday that he has always been a fan of anti-heroes and said
one of his favorite DC Comics characters is Black Adam.
Appearing in Mexico City to promote "Hercules," Johnson said he will make sure comic fans are not disappointed.
"I am putting my heart and soul and my bones into this role," he said.
Johnson didn't say whether his character will appear in the film
"Superman v Batman: Dawn of Justice," which is scheduled to be released
in 2016.'
The usual comments about the race issue, whether The Rock can play the innocence of a teenage boy in a superheroes body, and the usual misconceptions about the legal issues surrounding the name of the hero populate the comments section of the Yahoo report (I, of course, set the record straight abut the legal issues).
It is a relief to have these "official" announcements come out. I, for one, have been getting a little tired of the rumors, rumors, rumors going about. Now once we get the straight dope about whether Mr. Johnson plays the hero or the villain, we can start worrying about the writing and directing and the rest of the cast, instead of having to spend our time debating about things that do not yet exist.
Well, after all that news about the potential appearance of a Marvel Comics Captain Marvel in the movies, the one owned by another comic book company hit the news today.
Apparently, Dwayne Johnson (AKA The rock AKA Rocky Malvia, pro wrestler with WWE and popular film star) said something that people are interpreting as a big, BIG hint that he will be playing Captain Marvel, or Shazam, depending on which name they decide to go with, in a movie coming out soon.
Some of these articles keep up the uncertainty of the announcement, while others just come straight out and say "This is it."
This would be big news. As we all may remember, years ago, when the first rumours surfaced about Johnson playing Captain Marvel, it was all wishful thinking. Then folks with more familiarity with the DC Universe suggested Black Adam, one of Captain Marvel's arch enemies, as a more appropriate character. Among the reasons, political correctness aside (and said with loads of Liberal Guilt), it's not usually a good move to change the race of an iconic character like Captain Marvel, and since Johnson has African ancestry and has played a Middle Eastern warrior before, casting him as Black Adam seemed like an awesome choice. This eventually led to a MTV on-line survey in which over 80% of the respondents said they would he should rather play Black Adam, and Johnson said he would be happy to discuss the possibility.
But now, whether they are being cautious or bold about it, everyone is jumping on the "The Rock is Captain Marvel/Shazam" bandwagon. I think we may want to slow down that bus. Lets look at this quotation from an earlier article at http://www.movieweb.com/news/dwayne-johnson-teases-his-dc-comics-character-compares-it-to-superman ...
"Well, here's the thing - so we've been having these ongoing
discussions. I won't tell you who it is, but I'll tell you the three
qualities we're looking for, okay? This is going to be fun! Here are
three qualities. The first quality we were looking for was that he had
to be extremely complex and have a lot going on. What that does for me
as an actor and the studio is it gives us space that we can explore; his
complexities. The other quality was that he had to - the character we
were looking for had to be well-known but never brought to life. Then
what that does again as an actor, it gives me a little bit of space, and
we talked about personality. It just gives me a chance to put an
imprint into his personality, with the set of tools that I could bring
to the table and put a very unique twist on his personality, but still
pay homage to who he is. The third thing - and most important - is he
had to be a badass motherfucker, okay, and on a Superman level of power,
where he could throw down. In those three qualities, I'm happy we've
found that character. Right now, we're out to a lot of writers."
Now this does not sound to me like the Big Red Cheese. Let's look at his points one by one:
The classic Captain Marvel is not complex. He is a mighty superhero who's alter ego is a boy. He doesn't have a girlfriend, there are no inherent neuroses, he isn't out for revenge, he just fights against injustice because that's what he was created to do. Later incarnations have the issue of him being a boy in a superhero's body, but even that is not so "complex with a lot going on." That's just "Freaky Friday" or Big" with super powers.
Captain Marvel has been brought to life several times, from the "Adventures of Captain Marvel serial in 1941 to the TV series "Shazam!" in the 1970's to his appearance in the "Legends of the Superheroes" specials.
Captain Marvel is not a "badass." Don;t get me wrong, he has the strength of Hercules and the courage of Achiles, and he can go toe-to-toe with Superman, but "badass" implies an attitude, It's a don't-fuck-with-me swagger that intimidates certain people. Captain Marvel is a nice guy. He has always been a nice guy. His "nice guy-ness" is one o the defining characteristics that differentiates him from other superheroes. Now I don;t know if they are going to go with the "Big" concept of the World's Mightiest Mortal having Billy Batson's mind, or if they will go with the original concept that they are separate personalities with shared memories, but they will probably go with the former, and true badassedness comes with having experience being as powerful as you are. You have the maturity to handle your power and now exactly what to do with it. Thus, Billy Batson, a 10-16-year-old boy (depending on which version you are reading) cannot be a badass. And Captain Marvel would never think of saying "motherfucker," much less want to be one.
Black Adam, on the other hand, is a complex, badass mo-fo. In the original version, he was exiled to the farthest star for turning evil, then flew 5000 miles back to take revenge. In the pre-"New 52" DC universe, he reformed himself and became a hero, serving with the Justice Society, then he conquered his home country, Qandaq, took over the government, and executed super-villains by tearing their bodies in half (because that's they way they did it back in his day, 5,000 years ago). He married the mighty Isis and adopted an injured boy and gave him the power to become Osiris (thes setting up a "Black Marvel" family), then got so upset when his wife was killed that he massacred every single man, woman and child in the neighboring country and went on a world-wide rampage that only ended when his "magic word" (which was also "Shazam") was changed. He then went on a worldwide trek to find it again. He then went on another worldwide trek with the skeleton he thought was of his wife to get her resurrected (it didn't work. someone switched skeletons on him). Somewhere in there he also "corrupted" a powerless Mary Batson by giving her a share of his power, turning her into "Black Mary" for a while. Now that's some complex badassery.
And that character has never been "brought to life" (except in a few animated cartoons).
Another thing about what Johnson said was that they were looking for a role that he could believably play. In the interview with TotalFilm.com, what talking about the discussions he has had with DC about what character he could play he said:
"There is baggage...and it's good baggage, that I have. I am a certain way and my wiring is my wiring, my DNA is my DNA, and when I step on stage or on screen I'm aware of what I am able to bring to a character, and so is DC [quotation edited for grammatical cohesiveness]."
Can we really see Dwayne Johnson, the rock, playing a young teenage boy awkwardly trying to figure out how to use a superhero's body and blshign at the attentions of a beautiful woman, or can we seem him as a powerful and vengeful ruler of a Middle-Eastern desert kingdom? Hmmm...now where have I seen that before...)
Now, I have been wrong before. I thought that 9/11 must have been an Iraqi plot, for instance. But I think that Dwayne Johnson's statements do not preclude the possibility of him being Black Adam, and, in fact, support that possibility.
Hi, everyone. I've been away for a while, fighting at international medieval combat tournaments, producing videos, working in the insurance industry, having a girlfriend, that sort of thing, but I am revving back up the Captain Marvel Culture project. With that in mind, I wanted to share some very recent Captain Marvel news.
As you should know by now, Marvel Comics has reprinted scads of Marvelman comics and is currently reprinting the Alan Moore series about the character under the name "Miracleman," it's title in the US.
Noh-Varr became The Protector and descended into obscurity, a dead Mar-Vell showed up in a miniseries, and Carol Danvers took on the mantle of Captain Marvel in a new series written by Kelly Sue DeConnick (who I interviewed at NY Comic Con. I'll post that interview in a later blog post).
Meanwhile, over at DC, the newest re-imagining of "Shazam" (now the name of the character carrying the franchise of the original Captain Marvel) has become a regular back-up character in Justice League comics. He had his own back-up series that established the new character's origin, which includes a half-dozen foster kids (including Billy Batson and Mary) who can all transform into variants of Shazam heroes.
Now let's see what's out there on the Interwebs...
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