'Shazam!' Director Calls DC and Marvel Rivalry Stupid
When it comes to the world of superheroes and superhero movies, there is a clear rivalry between [...]
When it comes to the world of superheroes and superhero movies, there is a clear rivalry between DC and Marvel. You either like one or the other, but according to Shazam! director David F. Sandberg, it's a stupid rivalry that he just doesn't understand.
The director shared this sentiment in a post to Instagram on Wednesday in which he shared a photo of a Superman versus Spider-Man comic from 1987 -- in Sandberg's native Swedish -- along with a long caption talking about how he wants all superhero movies to succeed, despite his general trolling about Shazam/Captain Marvel.
"This was one of my favorite comic books I owned as a kid," Sandberg wrote. "Back then I didn't know what Marvel or DC was, I just knew that I loved all of these superheroes. The seriousness of the DC/Marvel rivalry is so god damn stupid. I hope that all superhero movies do fantastically well. Why would you ever wish for a movie to be bad or to fail? More good movies is a win for everyone. This interruption in trolling is brought to you by disappointment in humanity. Now back to our regular programming."
The post is likely in response to comments on his previous Instagram post. In that post, Sandberg shared a screenshot of Variety's online poll, which asked which 2019 comic book movie fans are most excited for. The photo shows Shazam! getting a higher score than Marvel's Captain Marvel, prompting a little bit of good-natured shading from Sandberg in the caption with the hashtag "TheOriginalCaptainMarvel".
He's referring to the Captain Marvel name debacle from comics -- something Sandberg has addressed in the past -- that led to DC ultimately rebranding Billy Batson's superhero name as Shazam!. However, despite Sandberg's lighthearted trolling over the matter -- and, to be fair, Sandberg has done a lot of lighthearted trolling of fans in general when it comes to Shazam! -- the name "Captain Marvel" won't appear in the Shazam! film.
"Let's just say we're going to have a bit of fun with that in the movie," Sandberg teased in July of this year. "But he's basically known as Shazam, which makes sense because of the confusion."
When it comes to Sandberg's comments on the DC/Marvel rivalry, however, it seems like his sentiment of support for all superhero moves may have been lost on a few fans. Many commented on his Instagram post continuing the debate.
Captain Marvel will arrive on March 8, 2019. Shazam! will arrive in theaters on April 5, 2019. Other upcoming DC films include Joker on October 10, 2019, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, and Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020.
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