Shazam! Gets a New Writer

Published by Jeff Leins on: August 20th, 2009

Television actor turned writer Bill Birch has been hired by Warner Bros to take a swing at Shazam, a DC Comics adaptation of the character Captain Marvel.  Get Smart director Peter Segal remains attached after three years of development.

“Shazam” is the name that DC Comics markets the Captain Marvel comics under, since their rival (Marvel Comics) technically owns the rights to the Captain Marvel comic book series.  It can be a little confusing, but that’s the reason why they aren’t just calling the movie Captain Marvel, which would make it sound less like a movie Shaq starred in.

It’s also the word little Billy must say in order to turn from a sweet boy to the super hero Captain Marvel via a bolt of lightning.  Shazam is an acronym for the gods that were combined for all the special abilities.  Oh, and it’s the name of the wizard who gave Captain Marvel and his nemesis Black Adam their powers.  Confused yet?  Hopefully Birch can help.

WB feels each of the comic book movies have franchise potential and the lightning-chested Captain Marvel is no exception.  Maybe their persistence has to do with the expiring rights to Superman, a strikingly similar hero.  Like all DC properties now, a consultant will co-write and guide the process along.  According to THR, in this case it’s Geoff Johns, who started as an assistant on the original Superman and is dreaming up a treatment of the Flash.

Successful screenwriter John August was one of five writers hired so far.  He wrote an origin story he described as “Big with superpowers” and a comedy with plenty of action.  August later declared the movie dead when he jumped to another project.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was briefly involved as Black Adam and may still be keen for the villain.  He worked with Segal on Get Smart, so it’s possible he’ll be dropping elbows from the sky whenever this happens.