Ranking 2019 superhero movies by interest

4. Shazam! (April 5, 2018)

Let’s be honest: you folks weren’t really all that interested in seeing a Shazam! movie, were you? I mean, a twelve-year-old orphan boy says a magic word and, when hit by lightning, transforms into a Superman-like adult? And it takes place in the same universe as Man of Steel (2013) and Batman V Superman (2016)? How ridiculous! Besides, everybody knows the DC Extended Universe needs to be dark, violent, and depressing, with lots of rain and muted colors.

And I’m sure when you saw those photos of Zachary Levi in full costume, you probably thought, “Oh my gosh, those muscles look so fake! What’s with that glowing lightning bolt? And why is he drinking a Slurpee out of straw? Is that telling us this movie is going to suck or what?”

But without warning, Warner Brothers premiered the first trailer for Shazam! during their panel at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. Suddenly, opinion about this upcoming movie took a 180-degree turn. What initially seemed silly looked like a tremendous amount of fun. The on-screen dynamic between Levi and co-star Jack Dylan Grazer’s Freddy Freeman looked on-point and hysterical. It was the surprise hit of the panel, almost upstaging the equally fun Aquaman trailer.

Basically, Shazam! not only looks like a superhero version of Big (1988), it looks like DC’s PG-13 answer to Deadpool (2016), a self-aware action-comedy that pokes fun and embraces the now familiar superhero tropes. That and it’s a DC Extended Universe film that doesn’t look like it’s trying too hard to be very serious.