‘Shazam!’ Director Predicts ‘Captain Marvel’ Is Going to Make a Gazillion Dollars

Captain Marvel and Shazam! release in a month’s time of each other early next year, a pretty big coincidence since both characters — from competing comic book publishers — have been both called Captain Marvel at some point in their respective mythos.

David F. Sandberg — the director behind Warner Brothers’ Shazam! — has had fun with fans all week comparing both of the movies. Earlier in the week, Sandberg joked that the character in his movie had more fans than Marvel’s counterpart.

Now, the director is pushing the competition aside, predicting Captain Marvel will be making a whole boatload of cash once it debuts in theaters next spring.

“Well yeah, that movie is going to make like a gazillion dollars,” the director said on Twitter earlier this weekend. “It connects to Infinity War and it has Brie Larson punching old women in the face.”

“I tried to get Zac to punch an old woman in the face but he just kept saying ‘those days are over’ and stared out into nothing.”

Sandberg joins the superhero genre after having roots planted in horror. His feature film debut was 2016’s Lights Out before directing the Conjuring spin-off Annabelle: Creation in 2017. The DC Extended Universe‘s Shazam! will mark the third feature film of Sandberg’s career.

While Marvel’s Captain Marvel appears to be much more serious, Shazam! will have plenty of humorous undertones according to Sandberg.

“I think it’s very funny,” Sandberg wrote, “but the humor comes more from the situations rather than quippy one-liners (for people who read too much into things, that’s not intended as a dig at Marvel or anyone in particular. Quippy one-liners can be great). The important thing for me is to mix the funny with a threat that’s serious and to also have dramatic moments. All funny all the time takes the weight out of it.”

Which movie do you think will make more at the box office: Captain Marvel or Shazam!? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or online by mentioning @AdamBarnhardt on Twitter to talk all things MCU!

Captain Marvel flies into theaters on March 8, 2019 while Shazam! will arrive in theaters on April 5, 2019.

Upcoming films by Marvel Studios including Avengers: Endgame on April 26, 2019, and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 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.