With the new Shazam movie out and getting good reviews from critics and fans, will this let Shazam come closer to Superman in terms of popularity?
Back in the 40s, there was a time when Captain Marvel comics outsold Superman comics. Captain Marvel and Superman have a lot of surface similarities, but Captain Marvel really being a child can make him appeal to kids in a way an adult like Superman cannot. Now Shazam the movie was able to update the franchise with a hip sense of irony (they have some fun with this franchise being ridiculous and making fun of superhero movie tropes), but still had heart and drama in the right places. Meanwhile, Man of Steel, not a terrible movie, lacked a sense of fun and felt somewhat overwrought. This new Shazam movie does feel like updating the Donner films and making them fit in modern times. They are still both great characters, but Shazam may be getting some time under the sun.
I actually feel like Superman is lacking in modern media representation, his last couple of movies are lackluster and he has not gotten a great video game as Batman and Spider-Man have in recent times. Sure Batman and Spider-Man have had some duds recently (DCUE Batman is not great, Amazing Spider-Man 2 was bad, ditto to the 2 recent Spidey cartoons). But Batman has the Dark Knight Trilogy and the Arkham games. Spidey has his PS4 game, Homecoming and Into the Spider-Verse and now Wonder Woman and Shazam have the best DC movies around.