SHAZAM! Captain Marvel Returns to Your Shelf

REVIEW: The star-crossed superhero gets a bold treatment from Diamond Select.

Hey’d you hear that the Shazam! movie starts filming next year? That’s the word out of San Diego Comic-Con, anyway.

I still want to call it the Captain Marvel movie but, well, there’s just no changing the fact that Marvel outfoxed DC on that front decades ago.

Oh, well.

Anyway, I still get excited anytime I see a new Captain Marvel item — that’s what I’m calling him, sue me — and Diamond Select has released a bust worthy of the World’s Mightiest Mortal.

The resin bust, which lists for $60 and stands 6 inches tall, is just hitting stores now. It’s one of the latest in the company’s Justice League animated line and one of its sharpest. Part of the reason, of course, is that bright red. It pops. No wonder so many kids were drawn to Captain Marvel in the ’40s.

But it’s more than that. Often, Captain Marvel is depicted in merchandise smiling, which is appropriate because his approachability has always been his selling point. But he’s a fighter too and this sculpt depicts him ready for battle — or perhaps he’s just said that magic word.

DC animation impresario Bruce Timm and his crew did the merchandising world a huge favor 25 years ago when they began producing designs that are easily adaptable to toys and memorabilia. Those clean, economical lines lend themselves to the 3D treatment in a way that a lot of other designs don’t. Captain Marvel here looks like he’s bursting right out of your TV.

Unfortunately, this is the only way to get new Captain Marvel anything right now. DC Comics has him on the bench while fans wait for the publisher to figure out the best way to handle him.

Here’s an idea: Channel this bust, which evokes the bright heroism the World’s Mightest Mortal has always stood for.

Author: Dan Greenfield

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6 Comments

  1. I’m a big Captain Marvel fan and was excited about the prospect of The Big Red Cheese returning to the silver screen, but now I’m wondering what tone they’re going for considering the director they hired is best known for horror movies.

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  2. I will never call him by the wizard’s name. I don’t care for the modern take of the character. The Bruce Timm version is dead on.

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  3. His name is Captain Marvel. The old wizard is Shazam. To call them by any other names is abomination.

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  4. Yep ! Captain Marvel. I too am in trepidation over the director choice. He has a web page out there with videos. The trailer for Lights Out creates a picture of a movie I would not watch. But it is a trailer. As to the statue I would pay for a full figure. I do have the Bostwick doll opps figure. Actually bought it from him. It sure if I agree that all the Captains were smiling. I would have to turn to Chip Kidds book or goto PCHamerlinck who knows it all. Key to the film will be who the director consults. That is of course unless the film is a Producers scam.

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