Ever since the DC Comics have released the official trailer of the origin story “SHAZAM”, it has been tough for the fans to keep calm.
Yes, that’s true!! And it all starts with a powerful word SHAZAM and the fifteenish kid transforms into an adult, gets six packs and the best part: he gets the power of magic from the wizard which lets him fly, throw electric surges, and gets as powerful as Superman himself just by saying “SHAZAM”.
Let’s rewind back for a bit of history for Shazam. WHO IS SHAZAM?
The DC comics character Shazam is a kid who is an orphan, has a few friends, tries to survive on his own and left to fend for himself until one day a wizard notices him and decides that Billy Batson (the real name of Shazam) is destined for greater powers and role in the world.
The wizard grants him magical powers and tells Billy that he can summon those powers for the greater good just by saying ‘Shazam’. Billy can change back into his usual self by saying that word again.
In fact, there are several comics and an animation movie too which shows Shazam and Superman fighting side by side with Black Adam who is basically another Shazam guy who acquired magical powers from the same wizard by uttering the word Shazam (and never said the word again i.e. never gave up his powers), became God-like powerful, is alive for a thousand years at least, and tentatively is the main villain in the upcoming DC flick.
Again, in the animated series ‘Justice League Unlimited’ Superman and Shazam come together in an episode as Billy Batson is now a member of the coveted Justice League and they fight in Metropolis city with Shazam finding nothing wrong with Lex Luthor’s intentions of powering up the city with a Kryptonite based generator (a deadly substance from Superman’s homeworld Krypton which is lethal to Kryptonians like Superman) and Superman suspecting the true intentions of Lex as usual.
Of course, Batman does discover the true intentions of Lex later in the same series.
We don’t know about comic stats but as far as movies are concerned, Marvel (a competitor of DC) has had many multi-billion hits to its credit namely Avengers series, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Black Panther, etc.
What remains to be seen is whether Shazam can live up to the Super high expectations of the fans and deliver the magic?
