Shazam! Movie Update: The Hero Will Be...

John Cena and Joshua Sasse are front-runners for the role of Captain Marvel in the "Shazam!" movie! Billy Batson's character description is out! A script has been written and the plot synopsis is out!

Yes, folks, that is what the clickbait media are saying, and I have just done my service to my click-count by putting all the keywords in the first paragraph.

So let's start with the big news first: The hero's name. Back in 2007, DC pretty much gave up the fight of having a superhero with a name that could not be put on the cover of the book. The trouble (as regular readers of this blog and viewers of the associated YouTube channel and members and followers of the associated Yahoo and Facebook groups and Facebook page know) is that when DC licensed the original Captain Marvel from Fawcett Publications, Marvel Comics had trademarked the name "Captain Marvel," so DC decided to title the comic book for this character "SHAZAM!" (all caps, with the exclamation point). Shazam has since been used as the trademark for all merchandise, properties, and productions surrounding and involving this character. It is therefore understandable that people who would never read the book, watch the TV show, or play the video game would never know that the hero's name was really Captain Marvel.

So as part of a company-wide crossover event, Captain Marvel underwent a transformation in which he became a sort of "guardian of magic" character on the Rock of Eternity with the title "Lord Marvel," and his role on Earth was taken over by the former Captain Marvel, Jr, Freddy Freeman. He had recently lost his powers, however, and to gain them back he had to undergo a series of trials chronicled in the 12-part series "The Tirials of Shazam." At the end of that series , Freddy emerged in the classic red suit with the superhero name that matched the acronym of the source of his powers, Solomon, Hercules, Apollo (who replaced Atlas after he was killed), Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury; SHAZAM!

Dan Didio himself confided to me how relieved he was that at last they have a hero whose name is the same as the title.

That turned out to be temporary, however. The old wizard named Shazam, whom everyone thought was dead, returned and took his name back, and Freddy was now the new Captain Marvel.

But before anything else could happen it was 2012, and CD came out with the New 52, reinventing all their characters, some more than others. In the case of Captain Marvel, his powers changed, his origin changed, his costume changed, and his name was now "Shazam."

Of course conspiracy theorists, semi-fans, and other folks who have not had the good fortune of growing up with this character and having researched the legal history and ins-and-outs of the trademark and copyright and other issues going on, started assuming things like it was now illegal to call Captain Marvel Captain Marvel, or that Marvel Comics had sued, or any number of other reasons why the change happened. So the next thing you know, there were YouTube videos proclaiming to tell the "History of Shazam" and talking about the character as if he used to have the name "Captain Marvel."

Just to make things more confusing, the universe of the "New 52" turned out to be part of a multiverse of 52 universes, one of which (Earth-5) was the home of the original Captain Marvel.

Then, in 2014, Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson broke the news that the Shazam! movie project was up and running again (you can read back through my previous posts to follow the history of its first incarnation from 2003 - 2009). There was a resurgence of interest in the character, with a concurrent surge in YouTube videos and clickbait articles about him, along with the usual casting rumors and speculation. With each of those videos and articles was, either in the content or in the comments (usually both) something not 100% accurate about the history of the character and his ownership and where the rights lay regarding the character's name and its use.

One thing was never made clear, though, either by accident, design, or legal obligation: What would the name of the hero if this new movie be? Most reports of the movie would use the New 52 character's name, as it was the same as the the title of the movie and besides, either the writers never knew the name as anything different, or they assumed that the name had been changed for good. Illustrations representing the character would be of both the New 52's "Shazam" and the classically-based Captain Marvel. Moreover, since there had been several reboots of the character since 1986, much of the material available was of these reboots, and not the original character. This made for some interesting mish-mashes from those who did not know their history.

So as people would be saying "He will always be Captain Marvel to me!" and "Get over it, it's illegal for DC to use that name!" and so on, I would chime in, pointing out that the studio had not yet said whether the hero would be the New 52 version,named "Shazam," or based on the original, and named "Captain Marvel."

Well, if the words released by thathashtagshow are to be believed as genuine, it looks like they have decided. Below are the "plot synopsis" for the movie and casting notice for Billy Batson:

"Based on the DC Comics character “Shazam!” Billy Batson becomes Captain Marvel, the world’s mightiest mortal, when he says the magic word “Shazam! The name is an acronym for six gods and heroes of the ancient world as well as their attributes. The wisdom of Solomon, strength of Hercules, stamina of Atlas, power of Zeus, courage of Achilles and speed of Mercury."

"Male, 12-15 years old. A teenager who becomes Captain Marvel, the world’s mightiest mortal. Granted access to incredible powers by the wizard Shazam, he speaks the wizard’s name and is struck by a lightning bolt that gives him the powers of the gods."

If that  isn't enough evidence, the director, David F. Sandberg, has been posting a picture each day in his Instagram page, and here is the latest...

Not a "New 52" to be seen! Nor a "New Beginning," a "Power of..." a "Magic of..." or even a "With One Magic Word..."! Just classic, Fawcett Captain Marvel comics, a couple of action figures of the classic Cap, a tiger, a worm, and a bunch of cans of Coke Zero. And a picture of the King of Sweden. In a Viking helmet.

There is a nifty in-depth analysis of the picture by Mark Siefert at BleedingCool.

Whatever else this says, it does not say "New 52." It says CAPTAIN MARVEL!

Next: About those casting rumors, plot details, and possible connections to "Flashpoint"...

The Latest from DC, part 1

Lately, DC Comics has gone in two different direction with the original Captain Marvel. In the main DC Universe, they have decided to totally re-imagine the character, at least in part to differentiate him from Superman. Since the beginning these two characters have been at loggerheads. Both of them are super-strong, invulnerable, and can fly, and are the greatest heroes in their respective universes. When they wound up in the same universe, a logical question was “what do you need to have both heroes for, when each of them can do pretty much what the other one can?”

The answer, for DC Comics, has recently been to play on one key difference between the two: Superman was a science fiction concept: an alien from outer space with powers far beyond those of mortal man. Captain Marvel was a product of magic: a hero with the abilities of a half-dozen mythological and legendary characters.

In the ongoing trend of having a mighty, company-wide crossover event every year to drive collector and fan excitement about the company, as well as, yet again, “cleaning up” some of the messiness in the DC Universe left over since the last big “clean up the DC Universe” event, Zero Hour, DC Comics brought forth Infinite Crisis.

In the lead up to this event, Days of Vengeance, the magical element of Captain Marvel was brought to the fore. Captain Marvel was used as a focus of all the magic in the universe, as every magical character focused their energy on the Captain so he could grow in stature to battle the Spectre, a magical, god-like being that had, ironically, been created by Jerry Siegel back in 1939. He wound up losing the fight, though. Also in the story, old Shazam died and the Rock of Eternity was destroyed.
By the end of the Infinite Crisis, it was established that there were now 52 parallel universes. The “post Crisis on Infinite Earths” universe remains, and most of the old DC Universes (Earths 1, 2, 3, etc) seem to have been recreated, as well as self-contained universes for the characters of each company that they have acquired (Earths S, X, etc.). This now allows DC Comics to create stories with the characters in their original universes, if they ever choose to do so.

The Rock of Eternity had been rebuilt, and Billy Batson was installed there to keep an eye on the magical world, as the Rules of Magic have been “rewritten.” In other words, Captain Marvel became the top cop for magical monsters and demons. Before that could be explored further, however, something happened. Billy Batson said “Shazam” one day and the Captain Marvel he transformed into was different. He was in a white version of the Marvel suit, his hair was long, straight, and white, and his cape was long and had a hood. He looked like Elric of Melniboné, Michael Moorcock's magical albino, on steroids! At the same time, Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel both instantly lost their powers!

It turns out that Billy Batson/Captain Marvel is now to sit on the throne of Shazam. Billy Batson looks to never be seen again, and the character simply uses the name “Marvel.”

Freddy Freeman, the Shazam Family outsider, and former Outsider (since losing his powers) has been set on a quest to earn each individual power of Shazam (Solomon's wisdom, Hercules' strength, Achilles' courage, etc.) in a series of trials chronicled in the recent series Trials of Shazam. One result of these trials is that the hero who will ultimately say the magic word and wear the red suit with the gold lightning bolt (Freddy Freeman) will be called Shazam. Dan Didio, editor-in-chief of DC Comics has admitted that part of the reason for this is to finally have a comic book with the character who's name is the same as the title.

Mary Batson, after recovering from injuries sustained when she lost her powers, fell into a fit of depression, sought to regain her powers, and met Black Adam. He gave her back access to the Power of Shazam, but also a share of his powers. This made her more powerful and and gave her a greater range of use of magic, and she gained a new costume, a black, long-sleeved, capeless number with a very short skirt.. Once the moral center of the Shazam Family, she fell to the temptations of that power, almost becoming a tool of the villain Eclipso. She overcame that temptation, however, when she realized that she was being used, and lost her powers again. She regained her original powers (and a new white costume with long sleeves and a gray lightning bolt) when she realized that what she really wanted was to help people with her powers. Then the villain Darkseid tempted her with the powers that she had gained from Black Adam and debates of moral relativism, and Mary accepted them, and the black costume reappeared.