Shazam: 5 Things You Need To Know Before The Movie

5. He's Been Around As Long As Superman

From an outsider's perspective, Shazam looks as close to a Man Of Steel knock-off as you can get without lawyers getting involved. He actually debuted around the same time as Superman, first appearing in February 1940's Whiz Comics #2 €“ a scant few months after Clark Kent crashed to Earth and started wearing his pants over his tights. They've got similar superpowers, an almost identical clean-cut look, but apart from that? Couldn't be more different. Readers of the time agreed, with Whiz far outselling Action Comics for a period in the forties. He even beat Supes to the punch in reaching the silver screen, becoming the first superhero to ever earn a movie adaptation with 1941's Republic Pictures serial Adventures of Captain Marvel. Actually, we say he's as close to a Man Of Steel knock-off as you can get without lawyers getting involved, but that was a bit of a fib. Shazam's original publisher, Fawcett Comics, went under in 1953, partly because of a copyright infringement suit from DC Comics alleging their character was just a copy of Superman. We like to think of him more as a variation on a theme: their basic power sets are similar, but their origins are totally different, with Supes getting his abilities thanks to his alien physiology, and Shazam being bestowed with the magical powers of the Greek pantheon of gods. See? Totally different. Plus, from the looks of it, he's gonna be a bit more cheery than the glum hero we saw in Man Of Steel, which'll be a breath of fresh air.