Batman/Superman #2 cover

[cyberghostface]

 

"The first of the characters corrupted by the Batman Who Laughs. You’ll fear the Power of the Dark Multiverse. SHAZAM!!!" -- Joshua Williamson

Comments

[icon_uk]

Because what better way to parley the success of the upbeat Shazam movie into increased comics sales than by introducing the main characters antithesis?

And adding in Joker related shenanigans for good measure.

Le sigh...

[owlbrigade1]

It is almost like they are scared of new readers turning onto the brand, either that or 30 years on and they still have not escaped the shadow of The Dark Knight Returns.

[dcbanacek]

Why should Watchmen be the only thing they beat like a dead horse?

[janegray]

The movie kind of bombed, though :(((

[icon_uk]

In what sense?

It grossed £363 million worldwide (against a budget of $80-100 million) and is the 8th most successful movie so far this year.

In comparison Justice League earned $657.9 million, but cost $300 million in 2017, so Shazam was a much better return on investment.

The critics liked it, it has 90% positive on Rotten Tomatoes (Justice League has 40% positive)

That's not really a bomb in anyone's books.

[thezmage]

Just wondering: is the first number supposed to be in pounds while the rest is in American dollars, or was that a typo?

[icon_uk]

Ahem, it was, of course, a deliberate mistake designed to test your awareness... Well done!



(okay, it was a typo ;) )

[janegray]

Well, ok, "bomb" is an overstatement.

Still, by modern superhero movie standards, it heavily underperformed at the box office. This days it's incredibly rare for a superhero movie to make less than 500 million dollars, and the average expectation is about 650 million.

The fact that Justice League made "only" 650 million actually sent the investors in a panic, and they completely changed the direction of the DCCU. All the recent movies have put an emphasis on humor and "chaotic" fun.

Shazam WAS a good movie. I blame marketing. My sister, who normally loves superhero movies, refused to go watch Shazam because the trailers had it convinced it was a parody like Scary Movie. I had to reassure her and several other people that, yes, the movie was funny, but it WAS a legit superhero movie. But by then, the movie was already out of theaters.

[locuatico]

Not to disagree with you, but JL is not exactly a good example.

yes, it made a crapton of money, but it also cost a crapton of money (long story short, not only it had a reported 300 million budget, there is data that sugggest the number is closer to 500 million), JL was one of the most expensive ever made and, thus, it had expectations impossible to meet.

Shazam, on the other hand, had healthy box office returns, was liked by reviewers and fans alike AND it had none of the drama other DCEU movies had. all in all, I think WB must be at least satisfied with the movie.

Now admitely, I don't have an insider information on WB's reaction on Shazam. but all articles calling it a "bomb" seem to be acting on speculation rather than any official statement from WB. So I am not certain that WB considers it a "bomb", either.

Interestingly, trying to dig any sort of official statement, it seems Zachary Levi recently revealed the sequel could begin filming in 2020, so I think WB considers the movie succesful enough to give it another shot.

[owlbrigade1]

Not to mention, and admittedly I haven't done much checking on this and am going off of pure anecdotes, most of the people I see calling it a bomb then go off on a rant about JL's "Snyder Cut" and "Why DC should rehire Nolan". I'm thinking that, not that I am saying there is here, there tends to be a lot of agenda based complaining around it.

[joetuss]

I was so bored with Shazam. I walked out right after Sivana killed his father, and brother.

[lordultimus]

It didn't "bomb" so much as "underperform". They still got enough money to justify a sequel and a Black Adam movie.

[owlbrigade1]

Given the reception the rest of the DCCU, and Shazam having a lot less name recognition as well as more niche appeal to start off with, I struggle to see how it would have been possible for it to underperform as far as WB were concerned. You have to have high expectations for them to be dashed. If anything it probably overperformed in their eyes.

If you set the bar low enough, anything can be a success, and BvS and JL movies set the bar very low indeed.

[lordultimus]

Well, it underperformed compared to Aquaman. I guess people are debating what WB's expectations are for the DCEU now that it's clear that their previous method wasn't working.

[lordultimus]

I hear his actual series is going good, if you can get used to Mary not being his blood sibling anymore.

[scorntx]

[noise of aggrieved disapproval]
It's alright, apart from that one tiny problem.

Well, that and trying to write about kids when the writer was clearly a kid twenty years ago.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

It's DC.

If something isn't grim and gritty, you're just not trying.

[thezmage]

This is the sort of idea that I’d love in an elseworlds or some other alternate continuity but just exhausts me in the main continuity

[beyondthefringe]

Oh boy! Just what we've been demanding! A grim, gritty, corrupted, evil version of Captain Marvel!

said no one ever...

As I have sad flashbacks to Dark Mary Marvel from some years back. :(

[junipepper]

Oh ffs, I’d just managed to forget about her. Thanks, dude. :-)

[rainspirit]

Oh, so that's where the BatGod went.

...I don't like it. :/

[thanekos]

There's a non-zero probability that Dark Shazam is gonna do the " Shazam! Shazam! Shazam! " bit from Kingdom Come.

[bruinsfan]

Hasn't that happened in just about every conflict between Superman and one of the Marvel characters SINCE Kingdom Come? DC's writers repeat that like 14-year-olds repeat memes on reddit.

[scorntx]

It's the only piece of fiction featuring Captain Marvel most DC writers have read / have heard of.

[ap0cryphal]

Didnt we just finish the dark multiverse / barbatos stuff once already, I mean, there is such a thing as overexposure.

Remember when Deathstroke was the supercoolest big bad, able to take down the entire justice league because wow he was so cool and badass, and how utterly tepid that was?

Good times.

[bruinsfan]

That story's been dragging on (and on, and on...) in Justice League for quite some time now.

[ap0cryphal]

*facepalm* wait, really? I thought Metal was the start/end of the dark multiverse stuff for now

[kurenai_tenka]

It feels like there is something inherently nihilistic/joyless about an evil Shazam/Billy. Why can't we have nice things?

[starwolf_oakley]

Well, if we can get Gwenpool as an actual comic book character, anything is possible.