When I was about 8 years old, there were a couple of cheesy Saturday morning superhero shows, “Shazam!” and “Isis.” Even as an 8 year old, I would look at Captain Marvel and Isis and think Superman and Wonder Woman. I would also think, “boy, this TV show is pretty funny, but not ha-ha funny.” At the time, I’m not even sure that I knew these shows were based on comic books, but they were, and now the comic books will be forming the basis for a movie from New Line, Shazam! The movie will deal with Captain Marvel, who is actually 13 year old Billy Batson. When Batson says the word “Shazam,” he obtains the power of six mythical gods.
The Hollywood Reporter states that John August will write the script for Shazam! August has previously written things like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Corpse Bride, Go (sounds good), and both Charlie’s Angels movies (not so much.) He states that he likes the idea of writing this particular superhero movie because “What's terrific about the character is that he looks like this superstudly superhero but is really a 13-year-old boy. And to approach everything that is great about a superhero movie from a 13-year-old boy's perspective was a unique way in.” If I were a 13 year old boy, I’d trade all my powers for X-ray vision, so maybe August will take that as the basis for his script.
With the plethora of superhero movies lately, it’s hard to get excited about movies based even on characters you care about. They have been a very uneven lot. With Captain Marvel, a character I really have no interest in, my excitement is even less. The director will be Peter Segal, who has some real clunkers in his wake and hasn’t done anything to show he can handle the type of effects heavy project most superhero movies turn into. Still, I might show up, just to see if they work Isis in, she was something in that toga.
