Mark Millar may be a polarizing presence in the comic book community, but his contributions to the medium can’t be denied, even if his take on Shazam! Fury of the Gods could generously be described as spicy.
The writer and producer’s credentials speak for themselves thanks to his efforts on the acclaimed Marvel run The Ultimates, while his work was cited as a major influence on the development of the big screen cinematic universe’s first Avengers movie, not to mention the fact he penned the source material behind both Captain America: Civil War and Logan, two of the best superhero blockbusters of the last decade.
Then there’s his involvement in Kick-Ass and Kingsman, so his voice is definitely one that should be listened to, even if you don’t necessarily want to agree. With that in mind, online eyebrows have been raised after Millar went out on a limb and named the upcoming Shazam! sequel as the turning point in the ongoing battle for dominance between Marvel and DC on the big screen.
It’s ironic that one of Kevin Feige’s proteges in James Gunn is spearheading the competition at the exact same time the MCU is on its weakest run of form yet, leaving the door wide open for the rebranded DCU to at the very least narrow the gap to its illustrious contemporary.
Whether or not that happens remains entirely up for debate, but with Fury of the Gods tracking for one of DC’s weakest box office runs yet, it seems a tad over-ambitious on Millar’s part to mark it down as the single defining moment in the current trajectory of spandex-clad superheroics. Then again, for all we know, time could turn out to prove him 100 percent correct.
