When Shazam! Fury of the Gods Has Focus, What’s His Inspiration?

When we’re dealing with the classical antiquity as core concept for Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the entire Greek pantheon better show up!

Shazam! Fury of the Gods Movie PosterAll the DC movies from this year exist in a strange place. Since they’re not part of the new universe, they aren’t necessarily considered ongoing canon. That’s because of Warner Bros/Discovery wanting to revamp everything. After Black Adam (my movie review and commentary can be read here) did not invest enough into the legends and lore, I had trepidation regarding Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

I love the idea of incorporating mythology from ancient cultures into any superhero movie treatment. When done right, some heroes are just modern day updates to classical figures. For example, Horus is the spiritual predecessor of Hawkman. For the titular hero in this franchise, he embodies the best traits from six Greek divinities–Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury.

But when a sisterhood from Greek myth decides it’s time to torment Billy Batson (Asher Angel and Zachary Levi), he’s in trouble. They are targeting his surrogate family to reacquire the power bequeathed to them by Shazam (and The Wizard). The death of the gods and to resurrect them is a big theme.

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Where’s the Jam in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur?

Even after giving Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur multiple watches, I can’t find too much that’s shows the love for the classic material.

Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur PosterWhen Disney Animation is bringing even more Marvel Comics properties under its fold, not every title will take. It doesn’t offer everything I adored from the Devil Dinosaur comic book. Although the producers behind Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur have all the right intentions to give new life to this property for a modern audience, I miss the energy Jack Kirby put into that work. That is, this young woman is no Tarzan Boy (and yes, Baltimora’s song comes to mind in this comparison).

This take doesn’t truly recount where the reptile comes from. Nor does it refer to Moon Boy, whom the dinosaur previously partnered with before entering a wormhole to meet Lunella Lafayette (Diamond White). She’s an aspiring inventor who needs to cut back on her Red Bull consumption. While her home life is reasonably stable, sometimes her parents just don’t understand what she wants to do. Throughout the series, she says she’s ready to work for Tony Stark rather than be stuck in school.

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An Easy Guide on what Black Adam is Missing

All the missing elements in the Black Adam may well be saved for when the next chapter of Teth Adam’s life as ruler of Kahndaq gets written.

Black Adam Film PosterSpoiler Alert

The biggest problem the movie Black Adam has is that the writing team is mixing decades of lore into one film. It can’t be done when considering the fact that past iterations of this antihero had varied modus operandi. I’m more knowledgeable of the Fawcett era version and early animated takes. Although I kept track of the revisions in later years when DC Comics overhauled the character, the only bits I liked is in how a certain beauty managed to soothe the savage beast who may or may not be Egyptian.

I really wanted a The Scorpion King in-joke with this film, but alas it didn’t happen.

From 1995’s The Power of Shazam, the archaeological discovery of this sleeping hero is used. In the Justice Society of America series, the city he was born in is Kahndaq rather than Ancient Egypt. Finally, that this antihero wants to bring “peace” to this nation is from 2003’s JSA: Black Reign story arc. Even after reading the trade paperbacks of The 52 (Rise and Fall of an Empire and Black Reign) and the film’s pre-release comics–which should’ve been distributed in movie theatres too–this motion picture doesn’t always make sense.

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Adding the word ‘Behave’ to Corrective Measures

Corrective Measures is a movie that looks at the prison life of supervillains and the thing that they’ll do to plot an escape.

Corrective Measures poster.pngAvailable on Tubi
Arcana Studios

Corrective Measures is a movie that looks at the prison life of supervillains. They have a varied range of abilities, and the most feared are the psychic types rather than genetically enhanced. In a world where they were nearly created overnight, to have heroes around who can stop them took time. But humanity persevered and managed to contain them in a questionably maximum strength facility run by The Warden (Michael Rooker).

Four new inmates get put here. Only two seem matters in this narrative: Payback (Dan Payne) is a vigilante of sorts, and he’s not loved by many since he has superior strength. Diego Diaz (Brennan Mejia) advanced abilities won’t help him survive, and just why these are of concern ties into how they can help Julius “The Lobe” Loeb (Bruce Willis) escape. He is this prison’s most dangerous inmate.

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Casper the Friendly Ghost is Back (from the Dead)!

Unlike past attempts where we’re dealing with slice of life type drama, this one promises to offer up an ongoing tale.

MAR171277 - CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST #1 CLASSIC GALVAN CVR - Previews WorldThe wonderful world Casper the Friendly Ghost is not laid to rest yet. Fans of this Harvey Comics icon can rejoice as a live-action series is in development. Variety broke the news early this week. Unlike past attempts where we’re dealing with slice of life type drama, this one promises to offer up an ongoing tale. I’m particularly excited because it’s may well be like Scooby Doo, Mystery Incorporated!

From the official synopsis:

When a new family arrives in the small town of Eternal Falls, Casper finds himself entangled in a mystery uncovering dark secrets that have been buried for over 100 years.

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