10 DCEU Characters That Are Nothing Like The Comics

2. Dr. Thaddeus Sivana

Shazam!'s antagonist is Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong), a physicist who grew up estranged from his family following a tragic car accident which crippled his father (John Glover), and which Thaddeus himself was blamed for.

Right from the jump, this is quite a distinct origin story from in most of the comics, where a young Sivana was mocked for his optimistic and ambitious scientific inventions. This caused him to grow into a prototypical mad scientist who sought various over-the-top means to kill Shazam (or as he was originally called, Captain Marvel).

If often depicted as a goofball in the comics, the Sivana of the movie is actually relatively serious and even sympathetic, at least to begin with.

This is closer to the tone of his depiction in The New 52, and the movie Sivana certainly resembles this version physically, though the comic run's influence on the film is ultimately superficial at best.

While a movie as light-footed as Shazam! probably could've pulled off the silliness of the classic Sivana, it was most certainly for the best to give him a more fleshed-out contemporary update.