The REAL Captain Marvel ⚡⚡

Underdog_MGTOW

March 13, 2019

144 upvotes

/r/MGTOW

Download the post

Want to save the post for offline use on your device? Choose one of the download options below:

PDF TXT EPUB

Support the archive

Everything here was supposed to disappear. Banned subreddits, deleted communities, cancelled blogs — much of what is archived here survives nowhere else.

It stays free — no paywall, no account — for the next man who comes looking, the way it was free for you.

I pay for the servers, the storage and the bandwidth myself. If you want this record still standing in ten years, become one of the people who keeps it online.

Support the archive

Post Information

Title	The REAL Captain Marvel ⚡⚡
Author	Underdog_MGTOW
Upvotes	144
Comments	26
Date	March 13, 2019 2:14 AM UTC (7 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MGTOW
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MGTOW/comments/b0gi8w/the_real_captain_marvel/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MGTOW/the-real-captain-marvel.499346 https://theredarchive.com/post/499346

[+][deleted] 7 years ago [recovered] (14 children) | Copy Link

To be honest? I'm not exactly sure how I feel about Shazam being made into a movie.

[–]firstpitchthrow30 points31 points32 points 7 years ago (12 children) | Copy Link

Can a brother preach for a second?

I told me sister, over the Christmas table in 2017 that if Shazam was done right, its a complete and total game-changer.

Of all superheroes, Shazam is at the top of the list for most logical to make into a movie. The reason being the whole "Big but with Superpowers" thing.

Superheroes tend to be people that we, the average fan, could never be. They're billionares (tony and Bruce), amazing top-flight inventors and scientists (reed, tony, Hank, Bruce Banner) or they're aliens from other worlds (too numerous to mention) or Amazonians, or whatever the case may be.

Billy Baston is not only completely not special.

Billy Baston is not even a grown-up!

There is literally no barrier between Billy as the main character and any average 14 year old boy who reads his comics. All Billy has is that he's good of heart and that the wizard chose him. That's all that's required. Billy Baston isn't a teen-age side-kick, he's not Robin or Bucky, he's not watching the hero work, he is the hero, with a simple magic word.

Billy Baston is the super-hero genre's wish fulfillment at its absolute purest and un-filtered. Its pure, 100% "when you wish upon a star..." that's its amazing power as a narrative.

That's why I've read hundreds of Shazam comics in my life, and I have yet to pick up a single issue of Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel is a dull concept. Put it this way, when I was young, growing up and reading comics, Carol Danvers did exactly ONE interesting thing that I remembered about her.

Rogue touched her and permanently stole her powers.

The most interesting thing about Captain Marvel was that she was the one responsible for Rogue's powers. That's how BORING Captain Marvel has always been. In comparison, I have hundreds of issues of Wonder Woman (to name but one other example) since Wondy's comics have actually had many runs of really high quality.

From what I've seen so far watching all the trailers, the tv spots and the behind the scenes stuff on youtube, it looks to me like they've nailed Shazam. Shazam should be:

-funny. If you were 14 years old and you got super-powers, you would absolutely use them irresponsibly.

-light-hearted. It not super-hero stories as traditionally told. As Batman once told Superman in Justice League Unlimited when Superman asked what the rest of the league liked so much about Shazam: "He's sunny." Shazam is a story about a teen-age boy coping with superpowers, and having a blast doing it, there is no teen angst angle here.

-family. Maybe the single most important aspect of the character. The wizard Shazam DIDN'T just choose Billy. That's a misnomer. The wizard chose Billy AND his family. He chose Billy as his champion because of Billy's family and purity of heart. Because Billy, fundamentally, is a person who is willing to rely on other people in his life to help him and to carry some of his burden. Because Billy has never been the "its my job, and my job alone, to save the world" kind of hero. You've seen Zachary Levi in the costume, but what you haven't yet seen is where all of this is going. This is what the sequel will look like:

https://static3.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Shazam-Movie-Family-Adult-Actors.jpg

That's how Billy is always able to overcome the forces of evil, he has help. Always. In fact, if you ask me, Mary is the coolest one. Black suit Mary Marvel was a GREAT character, a way, way, way better character than Captain Marvel ever has been:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i8EY_hUa_WY/TjnhRkQHS9I/AAAAAAAABlc/3N6LW3NiNus/s1600/mary+marvel.jpg

I really, really like how DC/WB has set this entire thing up. 2019, we get Shazam, and then, next year, they shoot the next film, and in 2021, we get the Rock in:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51b3dc8ee4b051b96ceb10de/51ce6099e4b0d911b4489b79/58ed1b1d579fb356c86e02e1/1491936302923/will-dwayne-johnsons-black-adam-be-the-main-villain-in-man-of-steel-2-social.jpg

Dwayne "the rock" Johnson has spent the better part of a decade trying to get this film off the ground, desperately trying and pitching and knocking down every door. Black Adam is the role the Rock was born to play. Its finally happening, its been green-lite, its coming in 2021, after all this time.

So, we get one film with the hero, Shazam, we get one film that focuses on the villain, Black Adam, and then, in the third movie, Billy Baston and Teth Adam meet and throw down in an absolute epic. If you want to know what that third movie might look like (and why there's been so much talk about Superman have a cameo in the upcoming Shazam movie) its because people are hopeful for something like this, which already exists in animated form:

https://movieberry.com/static/photos/86593/1_midi.jpg

Black Adam is every bit powerful enough to require both the earth's mightiest mortal and the Last son of Krypton to team up in order to take down.

Shazam is a golden age character. What that means is that there is now, nearly 80 years of comic book stories with the character to draw upon. A lot has happened. There are his solo stories, his stories with his family and his stories with the broader DCU. The well of interesting stories to tell with this character runs very, very deep. That's why I have such high hopes.

[–]RICHIESCO129 points 7 years ago [recovered] | Copy Link

[–]TheDekaprime3 points4 points5 points 7 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link

[–]boytjie0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (2 children) | Copy Link

[–]firstpitchthrow0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (1 child) | Copy Link

[–]boytjie0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link

[–]CalmMindCam0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link

[+][deleted] 7 years ago* (3 children) | Copy Link

[removed]

[–]firstpitchthrow0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (2 children) | Copy Link

Personally I would have preferred Mark Strong to come back as Sinestro and face off against Shazam, but he's not one of his traditional villains. Nothing wrong with Doctor Sivana, but he's a devilish little super genius who torments Shazam with his inventions, not a superpowered ass kicker as in the trailers we've seen.

Green Lantern is, by far, the biggest wasted opportunity in the history of comic book movies. The Johns GL run was the #1 seller in comics for several months in the years 2007-2009, a time when the industry was flooded with quality books, the Johns' GL was that good. Why not just make movies from the books in that run, starting with "The Lost Lanterns" (one of my favorite stories from that run)? Mark strong as sinestro was very, very good.

Fun game: How many Captain Marvel villains can you name?

I'm a comic book junkie. I can't name a single one.

How many Shazam villains can you name?

I'm a comic book junkie, and, off the top of my head, I've got the seven deadly sins, Black Adam, Dr. Sivana and Mr. Mind.

If you don't know who Mr. Mind is, get ready for me to blow your fucking mind. He's a super-villain whose a caterpillar with Mind Control Powers, and its awesome! That climax in 52 where Booster Gold and RIP Hunter face off against Mr. Mind in the bottle city of Kandor was one of the best comics I ever read.

Also I think The Rock would be a great Submariner over at Marvel. If you want a dangerous underwater anti-hero, he's your guy

Agree with you. Namor is an ass-hole, even more than Tony Stark is an ass-hole, but he's tolerated because he's usually right. I believe being an ass-hole is why Namor never got as popular as Aquaman despite Namor coming first.

He's also the Chad of the Marvel Universe. There is serious romantic tension between him and Sue Storm. Namor is the Alpha fucks and Reed is the Beta Bucks.

At some point in phase 4, once the Fox-Disney deal goes through, I'd really want to see the Illuminati and Secret Invasion.

Controversial opinion: I think Jason Momoa was wasted as "bad ass" Aquaman. After his misfire as (heroic) Conan and his pitch perfect (villain) Khal Drogo, he would have made a fantastic Lobo, chomping his cigar while ripping arms off, R-rated Deadpool style.

There's no rule saying he can't potentially play both, but not having him for Lobo does seem like a missed opportunity.

[+][deleted] 7 years ago* (1 child) | Copy Link

[deleted]

[–]firstpitchthrow0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link

[+][deleted] 7 years ago [recovered] (1 child) | Copy Link

Great analysis. And it's these aspects that I absolutely loved about the comics.

However this hero could have great potential to be used and abused. Especially given certain aspects touched upon by the comics. Specifically? The reason why Shazam left the JSA. Which was due to Billy's relationship with fellow hero, Stargirl/Courtney Whitmore who was 17 at the time. Even though he was the same age technically, Shazam was viewed as being older due to his keeping his identity secret and the relationship was viewed as extremely controversial. Instead of revealing himself as the teenage Billy, he left the JSA and Stargirl.

I can see this movie as being epic, but if not careful could very well be used as a political machine.

[–]balancedben 0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link

[–]theasshole9998 points9 points10 points 7 years ago (1 child) | Copy Link

[–]SovietGrazoBazoOkdek8 points9 points10 points 7 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link

[–]Fantoche_Dreemurr4 points5 points6 points 7 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link

[–]AndroidMetroid 1 point2 points3 points 7 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link

[–]Bersilus0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (5 children) | Copy Link

[–]Vrixithalis0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (4 children) | Copy Link

[–]Bersilus2 points3 points4 points 7 years ago (3 children) | Copy Link

[–]Underdog_MGTOW[S] 1 point2 points3 points 7 years ago (2 children) | Copy Link

[–]Bersilus2 points3 points4 points 7 years ago (1 child) | Copy Link

[–]Underdog_MGTOW[S] 1 point2 points3 points 7 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link

[–]Underdog_MGTOW[S] 0 points1 point2 points 7 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link

Comments