Whatever your personal feelings on the likes of Man of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, the dark, gritty tone that the DC Extended Universe initially cultivated didn’t work out as well as they hoped and since Wonder Woman, the franchise has attempted to go in a lighter direction. Just as you would think, this will continue with next year’s Shazam!, as director David F. Sandberg hopes it’ll come across as a “classic” superhero movie.
Speaking on the Film Riot Podcast recently, he talked a lot about his upcoming DC pic starring Zachary Levi as the titular hero, who’s really teenager Billy Batson. One of the most illuminating comments was about how he hopes Shazam! comes across and the tone he wants it to exude.
“On this one, it was just like ‘Yeah, I want this to be a classic superhero movie. It takes place in the winter, so it’s a lot of dark exteriors, but with a lot of colorful lights and stuff around them.”
Despite Sandberg’s past experience in the horror genre, we’ve heard a lot about how Shazam! will make a distinct turn towards a lighter style for the DCEU. The official logo, the bold, colorful costume derived from the character’s Golden Age look, that banner showing Levi drinking a milkshake and other factors have all promised that this will be as far away from the brooding BvS as you can get.
Presumably, when the director talks of wanting Shazam! to be a “classic superhero movie,” he’s implying that he wishes his film to have that kind of old-fashioned, bright-eyed charm of the original entries in the genre, like Christopher Reeve’s Superman films. Maybe that’s why Supes himself could be turning up in the flick, with Henry Cavill rumored to be dropping by for a cameo.
Don’t expect too much more on the Shazam! front for now, as we haven’t event got an Aquaman trailer yet, but we’ll find out if the movie will indeed become a modern superhero classic when it conjures its way into cinemas on April 5th, 2019.
