Shazam! Is the 'Next Step in the Evolution of the DC Brand'

CBR

By Sam Stone

Published Jul 17, 2018

DC Films producer Peter Safran explains how Shazam! consciously moves away from the darker tone of earlier DCEU films.

If the released images from the DCEU's upcoming film Shazam! feel like a huge step tonally from the studio's previous outings, it's because that's very much a conscious decision.

Ahead of this week's San Diego Comic-Con where the latest DC superhero film is expected to premiere its first trailer, DC Films producer Peter Safran reveals that Shazam! marks the next major step in how the studio is changing the tone of their DC Comics adaptations.

"Shazam! represents the next step in the evolution of the DC brand," explained Safran in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. "You had Wonder Woman, then Aquaman is another big step, then comes Shazam! All different movies, but all have a unique tone that moves away from the darkness of the prior DC movies."

Since the DCEU's launch in 2013 with Man of Steel, the comic book movies were recognized for being significantly darker and grittier than their MCU counterparts. This trend continued with 2016's Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad with even Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool poking fun at the overly somber tone of the DCEU earlier this year in Deadpool 2.

With next year's Shazam!, the studio looks to bring an element of fun and joy back into DC superhero films.

"It’s complete wish-fulfillment; if you scour all of DC and Marvel, there are very few characters that are actually stoked to be a superhero," observed Shazam! star Zachary Levi. "They’re not brooding, they’re not put out, like ‘Oh dammit, I gotta save the world again!’ Billy Batson is like Peter Parker, they’re thrilled to have these powers and can’t wait to try them out."

Arriving on April 5, 2019, Shazam! is directed by David F. Sandberg and stars Asher Angel as Billy Batson, Zachary Levi as Shazam, Mark Strong as Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, Djimon Hounsou as an ancient wizard named Shazam, Grace Fulton as Mary Bromfield, Jack Dylan Grazer as Frederick “Freddy” Freeman, Ian Chen as Eugene Choi, Jovan Armand as Pedro Peña, Faithe Herman as Darla Dudley, Cooper Andrews as Victor Vázquez, and Marta Milans as Rosa Vázquez.