Take heart comic fans, it looks like Shazam! may be a modest success. And to be honest, after years of polarized audience reaction and declining box office returns (that culminated with the near catastrophe that was Justice League), DC will take whatever success it can get its hands on.
Now while Shazam!’s box office numbers may not be causing many to do cartwheels, the previously floundering DCEU looks like it has taken another solid step in the right direction and both comic book and movie fans alike should be excited.
Make no mistake, in the latest exchange of fire in the absurd Marvel vs DC movie wars there are already people slicing Shazam!’s success to pieces even as I type this. It isn’t in the same box office class as Marvel, they say (mostly true). It isn’t close to being the year’s top opener and it’s only April (also true). Avengers: Endgame will sell more tickets its first weekend than Shazam!’s entire run (probably, but you could say that for 95% of the other movies this decade). And so on and so forth.
(By the way Team DC, Shazam!’s success doesn’t excuse your behaviour over the last few years. You’ve pulled some shady and even abhorrent shenanigans on occasion, including the need to put down or diminish Captain Marvel or any other MCU title in a misguided attempt to defend Shazam!’s honour.)
Those people aren’t just missing one point, but two.
First, while Shazam!’s opening falls quite short of Captain Marvel’s stratospheric success and it may not even find a home in the year’s top ten box office performers, DC can still call it a win. Shazam!’s production budget was pretty modest (by super hero standards anyway) and the film should turn a healthy profit as a result. It may take only make half of what Captain Marvel did (and full kudos to Marvel, CM’s outstanding box office success is the result of a decade of brand building and audience development) but it also cost about half as much to produce.
And if it can prove to have legs (at least until Endgame obliterates the box office in a few weeks), that is pure bonus for both DC and Warner.
Shazam! also enjoyed a much better reception from both critics and casual fans alike. A welcome departure from the dark and brooding approach DC had become known for, Shazam! was a breath of creative fresh air. A fun, light and amusing movie that will likely have a longer shelf life on home video and streaming as a result of being much more accessible to a larger audience. That’s another check mark for DC and Warner Bros. as they right the DCEU ship.
And righting the ship they are. Wonder Woman was a bona fide hit (during the fiercely competitive summer season no less) and Princess Diana’s success helped pave the way for Captain Marvel’s current triumph. Aquaman became DC’s first entry into the billion dollar club and launched a new franchise. Not only did DC premiere Shazam! last week, it also dropped the first real look at next October’s Joker movie.The response was everything it could have hoped for and more. Even the few tidbits we’ve had about James Gunn’s Suicide Squad reboot have generated buzz DC couldn’t buy a few years ago.
Yes, Justice League is still a pretty fresh black eye, but the people and culture responsible for it seem to have been exorcised from the DCEU, with a dynamic new approach taking its place. With hype already building for next year’s Wonder Woman 1984, you could say that DC is finally starting to do things right.
But the second thing haters seem willfully oblivious to is that competition benefits consumers. Or in this case, it benefits fans.
Years ago, it looked as though the WWE (then the World Wrestling Federation) was in severe jeopardy of being run out of business. Vince McMahon and company were under the gun as WCW-their biggest competitor-lured away big names and began to dominate television ratings. As a result, the WWE began searching for ways to survive. The Attitude Era was born as a result, and while it came with no shortage of controversy (bra and panty matches? Really?) many long time fans will tell you that it was the greatest chapter in the company’s history. WWE regained its place on top of the food chain and WCW was done shortly after the dawn of the new millennium.
But those same fans will tell you that the WWE has been in a creative spiral ever since WCW called it quits. That since the WWE no longer feels anyone breathing down its neck, that its survival was no longer threatened by a genuine competitor, it has grown complacent and lazy. That it now takes its success, and by extension its fans and their loyalty, for granted.
In short, the product suffered as a result. Need another example? It’s a widely held belief here in Canada that we get hosed on our smart phone bills, especially compared to other countries like Australia and our American friends to the south. Many maintain the solution is increased competition among providers because as long as a handful of companies operate with relative immunity to free market pressures, they can dictate prices and packages as they see fit. And customers are stuck marching along to their bottom line first, last and only tune.
It all boils down to competition.
Not to say that this has happened with the MCU (last year’s Infinity War proved that Marvel is still very much on top of its game), but without someone or something pushing it, the risk that Marvel was going to start resting on its laurels with each successive blockbuster was always a possibility.
After all, if everything they put out was a guaranteed blockbuster based on its brand name recognition and the absence of other genre options, why would they continue to invest time and money in quality? Success without sacrifice is the definition of mediocrity and opens the door to complacency and apathy (creativity’s two biggest enemies).
And after the purchase of Fox, there was one fewer fish in the box office pond that Kevin Feige and The House of the Mouse had to worry about.
But now that the DCEU seems to be on the right path, Marvel may need to start looking over its shoulder one day soon. Which his great news for fans.
Competition breeds innovation and hunger demands ambition. We’ve seen the kind of product Marvel can put out while its the undisputed king of super hero movies, but what can it do when pushed? How will it perform with actual stakes? How will it adapt? How will it improve?
By the same token, if DC can resist the temptation of quick fixes and keeps doing what it’s doing, how long until it can see Marvel’s tail lights? And once it can, how hard will it push to take the lead? Once in position, how bold will DC be when it attempts to win the marathon?
Because once this becomes a genuine two horse race, neither side will settle for second. And fans will need a good reason to pick a winner.
(On a related note, fans will also benefit from the upcoming streaming wars. How will Netflix defend its title as the reigning champ when a powerful new challenger in DisneyPlus climbs into the ring? How will both respond when Warner Bros. and Universal get into the game? What kind of original content can we look forward to as each player struggles, fights and more importantly, invests in ways to get a leg up on the others?)
By the same token, if DC and Marvel begin pulling out all their respective stops in an ongoing cinematic Cold War, what will other studios do to find a niche in between? What will Sony do with its burgeoning Spider Universe the Valiant Universe its currently trying to build? Could Universal use its new Dreamworks acquisition to create a universe populated by animated super heroes a la The Incredibles? The possibilities are truly endless.
So instead of waging online wars on their keyboards, fans should stop picking sides, sit back and relax. Because we may be in for one hell of a ride over the next few years.
Image via Warner Media
