Marshall Mathers has really thrown himself into the world superhero cinema and television lately, having provided the title song for the soundtrack of last year’s Venom and taken to Twitter last month to stand up for Marvel’s The Punisher in the wake of the show’s cancellation. And with latest trailer for Shazam! dropping earlier today, the rapper better known as Eminem was back on social media to show his support.
Mathers’ endorsement of Billy Batson’s DCEU debut doesn’t exactly come to us out of the blue, seeing how the new preview contains a remix of one his most famous singles, “My Name Is.” The rapper referenced this connection with a tweet, in which he shared the trailer along with the following comment:
“My name is, who???? #Shazam”
As anyone who’s seen the trailer will likely know, the choice of song is appropriate seeing how Billy transforms into Shazam by saying the name of his superhero alter ego. The new footage even manages to have a little fun with the concept, first when Billy scoffs at the silly name he’s expected to declare, then later when Billy’s friend Freddy Freeman offers the alternative suggestion of “Captain Sparkle-Fingers.”
Speaking of superhero monikers, in a strange coincidence, Marvel Studios happens to be releasing a movie this week under Shazam’s old title of Captain Marvel, and with Billy’s film being the next major comic book movie on the horizon, there’s inevitably been a little rivalry between the two fanbases online. Both Shazam! star Zachary Levi and director David F. Sandberg have made it clear that they don’t care too much for the DC/Marvel divide, but while the focus is on Carol Danvers right now, the spotlight will shift to Billy once Shazam! hits theaters on April 5th, 2019.
