8 Upcoming Comic Book Movies You Should Be Concerned About
6. Shazam
Shazam is just a downright odd production. It's been confirmed that it's set in the same world as the Justice League, yet Warner Bros have shoved it off to New Line Cinema, and an entirely different production team than the one they usually have working on their DCEU entries.
Because of this, Shazam has a bit of an identity crisis from day one. Does it want to be its own, standalone movie? Does it want to set itself firmly in the DCEU? Does Warner Bros even care about it, given they palmed it off to a different team? It's hard to have faith in a project that seems as throwaway as this one does.
On top of that, the film is seemingly being built around star Dwayne Johnson, rather than a great story. Johnson was cast as villain Black Adam in 2014, a whopping five years before Shazam debuts, and we've heard virtually nothing about it ever since.
Consequently, Shazam feels a bit lost. It seems as though it was pitched as a Dwayne Johnson star-vehicle that's being twisted to fit in the DCEU, and that means the movie could end up a tonal mess. Is it a darker DC picture? Will it take the more family-friendly approach Johnson's films usually opt for?
There's a chance it could combine the two and fall flat on its face.