Captain Marvel / Shazam Appreciaton

[Hypestyle]

so does Fawcett City exist in the post-Rebirth era? The new series is based where? Pittsburgh? Philadelphia?

[Güicho]

so does Fawcett City exist in the post-Rebirth era? The new series is based where? Pittsburgh? Philadelphia?

It's Phily, yet hopefully the Fawcett universe is accessible, as well as all the characters from it.
Honestly rather than Billy be an after thought joiner of the Justice League, answering to Superman and worse Batman.
Which is how DC and the fans wanting him there have inadvertently kept Billy/SHAZAM down, and made Billy a second rate character.
I do hope Billy reforms his own classic League now headquartered in Phily, with updated characters from that U.

As far as other heroes from the Fawcett universe.
Brought this up a few times...
http://community.comicbookresources....47#post1637947
I'd love to see Billy Shazam/Captain Marvel put together Shazam's Squadron of Justice / Fawcett City Crusaders.
Using updates of this team.

LOL! THanks!




Definitely! Would love to see them all updated and revisited.
Rather than continue to be an afterthought joiner of the JL, answering to Superman and Batman,
I'd rather see SHAZAM start and lead his own team.



AKA The Fawcett City Crusaders

I'd actually prefer if he (put together) and joined this group of heroes, instead of being an afterthought joiner of the JL, where he answers to Superman, or worse Batman, pending their approval.
It's an attitude that has kept the character back, since DC acquired him.
Instead of further developing (and updating) his corner of the DCU, where he is the definitive champion.

Art ^ not mine, except for a few updates : Made the Bulleteers, more Rocketeer like. And added a female descendant of Mr. Scarlet, now Ms Scarlet (maybe even a add a young female Pinky.

[Gamma Burst]

I'm kind of late, but this book is gonna be a love letter to all Shazam fans, both new and old.

[J. D. Guy]

Absolutely. I get what they were thinking, I just think it was a wrong-headed choice. They introduced three new heroes; if DC wanted a Shazam to have a different hair color, it should have come from one of the new faces.

This seems to make Freddy *less* distinct than he was, not more. Before he had various shades of Elvis visual appeal (depending on the artist and era, they'd play up his collar, etc) which you don't really see elsewhere. Now he's just another dude with long blonde hair. And it feels like a change no one put any real thought into, they just figured they'd change Freddy and picked the most obvious opposites; black hair to blonde, short to long. If they wanted to make Freddy more distinct, they should have pushed deeper into the Elvis-rockabilly vibe, not change long-standing elements of the character.

Less distinct? Maybe I'm just not that caught up on Elvis that I think homaging him through Freddy's character (and in turn, dating Freddy unnecessarily) by having his hair dark-colored like all the other 5 kids for the sake of playing up an Elvis hair-style (which, in theory, could be done even with blond hair if that Elvis-hair style was really as important as it seems to be made out to be) would be something that makes him more visually distinct among the other kids who all also have dark hair, especially compared to giving him blond hair that grows shoulder-length when powered up. I agree it is a simpler visual choice, but I do not agree that it is poor or poorer because of it.

And the above is beyond the fact that I do like Freddy's blond hair/should-length blond hair. (I don't dislike his black hair, mind, but I do like blonde on Freddy more.)

I really am at a loss for understanding this argument, and the overall disdain for blond Freddy.

More fantastic SHAZAMILY! Fan art - https://www.deviantart.com/phil-cho/...h-27-763810779

This is awesome art, but that's no surprise, since it's from Phil Cho for Earth 27.

It does kinda underscore my feelings about the lack of visual distinction in the hair (and somewhat in the faces here, too), though.

I'm curious, also, as to what is the catalyst of the fanon-compulsion to make Eugene's color green, Pedro's orange, and Mary's pure white (for Mary here, I think she could have had a red cape to better counterbalance Billy).

[SilverWarriorWolf]

Less distinct? Maybe I'm just not that caught up on Elvis that I think homaging him through Freddy's character (and in turn, dating Freddy unnecessarily) by having his hair dark-colored like all the other 5 kids for the sake of playing up an Elvis hair-style (which, in theory, could be done even with blond hair if that Elvis-hair style was really as important as it seems to be made out to be) would be something that makes him more visually distinct among the other kids who all also have dark hair, especially compared to giving him blond hair that grows shoulder-length when powered up. I agree it is a simpler visual choice, but I do not agree that it is poor or poorer because of it.

And the above is beyond the fact that I do like Freddy's blond hair/should-length blond hair. (I don't dislike his black hair, mind, but I do like blonde on Freddy more.)

I really am at a loss for understanding this argument, and the overall disdain for blond Freddy.



This is awesome art, but that's no surprise, since it's from Phil Cho for Earth 27.

It does kinda underscore my feelings about the lack of visual distinction in the hair (and somewhat in the faces here, too), though.

For me, it’s not so much the color as the cut. While I do prefer the black hair (that’s a preference I have over all, not just for Freddy), I don’t have too much of a problem with him being blond. I think the long, flowing locks look stupid, and I’d think it’d look stupid even if it was black. He needs a shorter cut, or if they want long, at least tied back.

[Ascended]

I really am at a loss for understanding this argument, and the overall disdain for blond Freddy.

"Disdain" is too strong a word (for me anyway). I don't loathe blonde Freddy, I just find it a painfully weak, lazy, predictable, and unnecessary change.

I understand the desire to ensure that all the kids look distinct and unique, and them being all dark haired (if we count classic Freddy) is a hurdle for achieving that goal. I get it. However, there were other, better, options here. We had new characters with no visual precedent; are you telling me Darla or Eugene or Pedro couldn't have blonde (or red, or whatever) hair, either through natural coloring or out of a bottle?

And it's not so much the blonde hair that irks me, as the loss of one of Freddy's defining visual traits in the modern age. The rockabilly thing doesn't date the character, he's basically just a particular kind of hipster. And there's more to the character than that, but it's still one of the things that helped define Freddy and set him apart; he was the Marvel kid with his collar popped and the Elvis curl.

There's also the fact that, really, there's damn little fear of Freddy being confused for Billy anyway. One wears red, the other wears blue. One is an adult, one is still a kid. One is built like a body builder, the other is built like a lean athlete. One had slicked back hair, the other had Elvis hair (or just a curly mess, depending). One had a cleft in his chin, the other didn't. One has squint-y eyes, the other has big bright eyes. This was a change that just didn't need to be made in the first place, any artist worth hiring isn't going to struggle to make them look different.

[SilverWarriorWolf]

"Disdain" is too strong a word (for me anyway). I don't loathe blonde Freddy, I just find it a painfully weak, lazy, predictable, and unnecessary change.

I understand the desire to ensure that all the kids look distinct and unique, and them being all dark haired (if we count classic Freddy) is a hurdle for achieving that goal. I get it. However, there were other, better, options here. We had new characters with no visual precedent; are you telling me Darla or Eugene or Pedro couldn't have blonde (or red, or whatever) hair, either through natural coloring or out of a bottle?

And it's not so much the blonde hair that irks me, as the loss of one of Freddy's defining visual traits in the modern age. The rockabilly thing doesn't date the character, he's basically just a particular kind of hipster. And there's more to the character than that, but it's still one of the things that helped define Freddy and set him apart; he was the Marvel kid with his collar popped and the Elvis curl.

There's also the fact that, really, there's damn little fear of Freddy being confused for Billy anyway. One wears red, the other wears blue. One is an adult, one is still a kid. One is built like a body builder, the other is built like a lean athlete. One had slicked back hair, the other had Elvis hair (or just a curly mess, depending). One had a cleft in his chin, the other didn't. One has squint-y eyes, the other has big bright eyes. This was a change that just didn't need to be made in the first place, any artist worth hiring isn't going to struggle to make them look different.

But they all turn into adults now, and Cap hasn’t had eyes always shut for years now.

Otherwise, seconded.

[Ascended]

I'm curious, also, as to what is the catalyst of the fanon-compulsion to make Eugene's color green, Pedro's orange, and Mary's pure white (for Mary here, I think she could have had a red cape to better counterbalance Billy).

It's funny, I was considering the same kind of color shift. lol

I think a big part of it is trying to stick with the "Power Ranger color coding" thing they're doing. Mary needs to change out of Billy's red (he's the main character, he gets to keep his colors) and she's worn white before. It looks good on her and it gives her a color of her own.

Eugene is in gray, but it's awfully close to the black worn by Black Adam. The Shazams don't have an orange or a yellow, but I dunno if orange would look good with Eugene's skin tone and yellow might be a little racially inappropriate (maybe?). But Pedro pulls orange off pretty well, and Eugene looks good in the green, so.....switch!

[Ascended]

But they all turn into adults now, and Cap hasn’t had eyes always shut for years now.

.....I could have sworn only some of them turned into adults? Pedro of course, because of the beard, maybe Mary and Eugene.....but I could have sworn Darla at least was still a kid after powering up?

And Billy still has the squint-y eyes depending on who draws him.

[Frontier]

Brandon Routh (Superman, Atom) will be playing Shazam in the Lego DC Supervillains game.

[Güicho]

Less distinct? playing up an Elvis hair-style ... would be something that makes him more visually distinct among the other kids who all also have dark hair, especially compared to giving him blond hair that grows shoulder-length

That's your (and someone at DC's) argument that he needs to be even "more" distinct.
The point being made here is that he is already distinct, and has been for over 70 years, as adult; clearly the only one in the distinct blue uniform, and as a kid with crutches, visually his mannerisms the way he caries himself, the way he dresses, and his personality, already made him distinct enough.
He doesn't need the added shoulder-length blond hair.
Who is confusing them?
As to variety in the new kids, their varying shapes, sizes, ethnicity, all distinguish them perfectly well, from the others, and show plenty of variety and diversity.
Again who is confusing them?

I do like blonde on Freddy more.)
I really am at a loss for understanding this argument, and the overall disdain for blond Freddy.

I'm curious were you already a big fan of Freddy the way he was, before the new long-blond haired version?

This was a change that just didn't need to be made in the first place, any artist worth hiring isn't going to struggle to make them look different.

Exactly, interpreting him for the movie , flat out shows it wasn't necessary. As the actor choice proves, nobody is confusing them because of their hair color. LOL!
Here it's the artist job to do the same. And I'm sure Frank before him, and Eaglsham if given the task are talented enough to find ways to convey it without adding the long blond wig.

[Güicho]

I'm curious, also, as to what is the catalyst of the fanon-compulsion to make Eugene's color green, Pedro's orange, and Mary's pure white (for Mary here, I think she could have had a red cape to better counterbalance Billy).

For me it might have something to do with the original color-coded depiction of the Goonies as they first became a team. (although the foreshadowing lightning is added ^ ).
Then with expectation set, when they finally did transform in the later issues, it's like they lost something with Eugene setup as green, instead going to black or gray, looked off, or dull?

It's funny, I was considering the same kind of color shift. lol

I think a big part of it is trying to stick with the "Power Ranger color coding" thing they're doing. Mary needs to change out of Billy's red (he's the main character, he gets to keep his colors) and she's worn white before. It looks good on her and it gives her a color of her own.

Eugene is in gray, but it's awfully close to the black worn by Black Adam. The Shazams don't have an orange or a yellow, but I dunno if orange would look good with Eugene's skin tone and yellow might be a little racially inappropriate (maybe?). But Pedro pulls orange off pretty well, and Eugene looks good in the green, so.....switch!

Agree.

Honestly think it just looks and conveys it better.
Also although it's completley subjective, there is something to those specific color assignments, that seem to match best with the specific power attributes.

And keeps Adam the only one in black as the antithesis.


Again, these details (including Freddy's hair) are fun, and minor details, which in no way impact my full enjoyment of what they've set up so far, and what's coming up.

[Phoenixx9]

In the original series, was Cap more powerful than Jr and Mary? Did Jr or Mary have any advantages over Cap?

I like the idea that each of the modern Marvel Family has one aspect better than the others, if only slightly.

[SilverWarriorWolf]

I was browsing the Shazam tag on Tumblr and spotted this article:

https://www.cbr.com/shazam-film-casting-breakdown/

In it, three cast listings appear as such:

[DANIEL]11, Korean. Daniel is a smart kid, into video games and reading non-fiction. SUPPORTING

[CARLOS]15, Hispanic, overweight, with asthma. Carlos is very shy and sweet. SUPPORTING

[SUZY]8-10, African American. A sweet, bubbly girl with glasses and pigtails. SUPPORTING

Do you think they changed Eugene, Pedro, and Darla to Daniel, Carlos, and Suzy? I hope not. I prefer the names from the comics.

[Güicho]

I spotted this article:

Oh yeah, that was posted way back, and discussed -
https://community.cbr.com/showthread...an#post3215939

There was even some fun casting guesses at the time.
I think poster El Gato guessed the Darla casting.
https://community.cbr.com/showthread...=1#post3319447

As far as the made up names, probably they were just casual name changes just used for the casting call, so it's not obvious what they were doing.
Of course those in the know, are going to get who they were casting for.

When the rest of the kids "transformed" adult cast were revealed, they also didn't label them outright, but those in the know, knew who they would be playing. - https://community.cbr.com/showthread...=1#post3615879

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah! - https://www.cbr.com/shazam-marvel-family-cast-brody/

Holy Moly! They did it!
My favorite part of the story Billy sharing the power with his new family.

Adam Brody = adult Freddy Freeman
Michelle Borth = adult Mary ?
Ross Butler = adult Eugene
Meagan Good = adult Darla
D. J. Cotrona = adult Pedro

I love this cast: