Toronto Start For "Shazam!"

Following the success of Warners' "Wonder Woman", comes word that "Shazam!", starring the character 'Billy Batson' , based on the 1940's comic book character is now in pre-production under the helm of director David F. Sandberg to start shooting in Toronto February 2018:

 "I’m taking it all in", said director Sandberg about the comic book history behind "Shazam!" 

"Some of those really old ones are quite fun. He's been around since the 40's for, like, as long as 'Superman'. 


"So there’s a lot to read and that's also interesting because he sort of has a couple of different origin stories or a couple of different takes on it. 

"There’ve been variations of the script, like before I came along. But now, this is about Shazam..."

"Captain Marvel" made his debut in Fawcett Publications' "Whiz Comics" in 1940...

...created by writer Bill Parker and illustrator C.C. Beck, whose art team also included "Captain America" co-creator Jack Kirby.

"Captain Marvel"-themed comic books eventually outsold the biggest comic book competitor of the day, Detective Comics'  (DC's) "Superman" by 14 million copies a month.

Thanks to an aggressive marketing campaign at the time, a huge variety of merchandise was licensed to manufacturers...

...including secret decoders, figurines, buttons, paper rockets, tin toys, puzzles, costumes...

...and a violent feature film 'serial' for Republic Pictures, (1941) noted as the very first big screen, 'superhero' movie, with 'Captain Marvel' killing enemies with gusto.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Captain Marvel"...