Official Shazam press release

Batman-News.com posted the official Shazam! press release which answers some questions, and raises some concerns.
We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out.  In Billy Batson’s (Angel) case, by shouting out one word—SHAZAM!—this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam (Levi), courtesy of an ancient wizard.  Still a kid at heart—inside a ripped, godlike body—Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them!  Can he fly?  Does he have X-ray vision?  Can he shoot lightning out of his hands?  Can he skip his social studies test?  Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of a child.  But he’ll need to master these powers quickly in order to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Strong).

It goes on to confirm previous rumors Ron Cephas Jones has been cast as the Wizard. It confirms the movie will feature the New52 Shazam, and not the classic Captain Marvel. While most of the Curse of Shazam characters are mentioned, no classic Fawcett characters, like Sterling Morris, Beautia, Uncle Dudley, etc., are even hinted at.  Billy is referred to as "streetwise", which may be code for the New52 jerk character, perhaps slightly toned toned down.  Expect Billy's catch phrase to be "bad ass" instead of "Holy Moly". Of course the very purpose of this film seems to be getting a superhero version of Big made at any cost.  The whole "have fun with them" line seems like a big chunk of the movie will be a blend of the "discovering his powers" scenarios from both the William Goldman and John August scripts, and the New52 scenes where Shazam and Freddy try to find beer money and pull pranks, and emphasizes Shazam will be reckless with his powers. Although David F. Sandberg was quick to renounce the idea of Sivana as a sorcerer, Mark Strong's comments about Sivana flying and shooting lightning from his hands, and this press release stating he can control deadly forces of evil (read: Seven Deadly Sins) indicates otherwise. The release emphasizes the film is firmly set in the DC Film Universe, and considering Sandberg not renouncing the reports Henry Cavill will appear in the film as Superman, signs point to that happening.   Maybe Zachary Levi will get his wish and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman will also have a role.  And Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn should definitely be in it, considering the chemistry between Billy and Harley in the Injustice comic book series.

All in all, it looks like this movie will be a hybrid of Big and Curse of Shazam with a Spider Man Homecoming vibe, and those of us who wanted an adaptation of the Fawcett material with an Alex Ross spin are S-O-L.

Shazam filming begins

Even though the majority of the cast has yet to be unveiled, David F. Sandberg announced filming has begun on Shazam! today.

Let’s go!⚡️

A post shared by David F. Sandberg (@ponysmasher) on Jan 29, 2018 at 9:15am PST

Shazam movie character breakdowns

Character breakdowns from the Shazam! movie have surfaced.

THADDEUS BODOG SIVANA – “Evil sorcerer who regenerates from death with world domination on his mind.” Supporting Lead Male

BEAUTIA SIVANA – “Sivana’s devoted daughter. When he does not return her love, she changes loyalties and helps Billy out.” Supporting Lead Female

MAGNIFICUS SIVANA – “Sivana’s incredibly giant and strong son that has a huge battle with Shazam.” Supporting Lead Male

SHAZAM – “Elderly wizard who is forced to give his powers to a young boy before the boy is ready.” Supporting Lead Male

MYSTERIOUS MAN – “Shazam’s underling.” Cameo Male 

It is interesting to see Sivana will be a sorcerer and not a mad scientist.  But I am happy to see Beautia is confirmed to be in the film, and seems to be very faithful to the Fawcett original. It is also interesting to see Shazam is "forced" to give his powers to Billy "before he is ready".  It seems there will be generous liberties taken with the characters.  Many are jumping to the conclusion the "mysterious man" may be Black Adam, but to those of us who are long time Captain Marvel fans, it seems obvious the character is the stranger who summons Billy to board the mystery train that takes him to the Rock of Eternity.  Since filming begins in just a couple weeks, all these roles are most likely cast, although are being kept under wraps. A photo reveals Zachary Levi and Asher Angel at a table reading of the script in Canada where filming will occur.

UPDATE: David F. Sandberg debunked the character breakdowns, adding "Sivana is definitely not a reanimated sorcerer".

Dr. Sivana is cast!

After months of rumors, Mark Strong, through an interview in London confirmed he is playing Dr. Thaddeus Bodog Sivana in Shazam! "I'm playing an evil bastard called Doctor Sivana, they are always the best characters to play, the most fun."  He went on to affirm the film's concept as a superhero version of Big, "It's a funny film, it's about a young boy who can become a superhero but still remains a young boy so there's elements of 'Big' there's elements of 'Stranger Things'. I think originally the comic outsold 'Superman' in the 1940s."  He also spilled a major spoiler about his character, "I've been training like a mad man, I'm about to go over and see the stunt guys, I've been trying all of these harnesses on and I think I'm going to be doing lots of flying around and firing electricity out of my hands."  After the article hit the internet, director David F. Sandberg tweeted "I guess it’s official now then".

Speaking of spoilers, a few days ago, Zachary Levi may have also tipped his hand that Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman may have a cameo in the movie, gushing about the Amazon Princess, “I think getting a cameo from anybody would be super cool, but I just think Gal Gadot is so effervescent. She has such a charm. And she seems like a really cool broad. Like, she was in the Israeli army. She's a mom. And I'm like, 'You seem like you're grounded and cool, and you're Wonder Woman, and you rock,' and I think it would be really funny to have the 14-year-old Billy Batson inside of Shazam that's really awkward around this beautiful Amazonian. I just think that would be really awesome.”

Review: The Archies #4

Issue number 4 of The Archies features The Monkees.   Written by Alex Segra and Matthew Rosenberg, the plot deals with Archie who, during a gig with his band, gets knocked out and dreams about an adventure with The Monkees.  Davy is kidnapped and The Archies tag along with Mike, Micky and Peter to rescue him. Being a dream, the typical surreal, meta humor of The Monkees TV series fits into the narrative, laced with Monkees trivia and call backs. This includes the Monkeemobile, the Monkee's pad, the Monkees using their "Monkeemen" superhero guise, as well as the Archies donning their 1960s superhero costumes.  Also a character named Tony Tunes alludes to Don Kirshner. I don't know if it was intentional or coincidence, but as Davy is kidnapped in the story, much of the action focuses on Mike, Micky and Peter.  In real life, Davy passed away in 2012.  Joe Eisma is the artist of this issue, and does something clever.  The bookends are drawn in the current realistic Archie style, but the dream sequence reverts to the classic Archie style. My only critique of the art would be that Eisma didn't really capture the Monkees' likenesses in the interior art. They all seem to have the same generic face and the only way to tell them apart is by their hair. His cover art gets the likenesses better, as do the variant covers by Greg Smallwood, Mike Allred, and Tyler Boss. Overall, this is a very enjoyable issue and earns an A-.