9 Big Questions After Comic-Con 2018

Upfront, the Shazam! trailer is pretty great. It's got some humorous beats that don't quite land and some effects that look a bit wonky, but overall, it sells not only a great approach to Shazam! as a character, but also an inspired new take on the entirety of DC's catalog.

Seeing heroes like Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman through the eyes of a child like Billy Batson or Freddy Freeman offers up a natural way to make the heroes more light-hearted and optimistic than earlier DC films did. They are kids idolizing their heroes, just as every fan of comic books once did, so they're instantly ultra-relatable.

The trailer features a host of subtle reminders of this viewpoint, from an Aquaman t-shirt, to a Batman Batarang, to newspapers about Superman. But could there be even more overt crossovers in the film? Months ago, it was heavily rumored that Henry Cavill's Superman was set to make an appearance in Shazam! and considering the tone and world the trailer shows off, we can only hope for something so marvelous to be true.

Cavill's iteration of Superman has been notoriously troubled, but seeing him through the eyes of a kid like Billy Batson would go a long way towards cementing his more optimistic and happy portrayal in Justice League.