Man Of Steel is a controversial movie among nerds, although making $660 million worldwide does sort of end the conversation. And it’s about to become more controversial, as it apparently derailed the Shazam movie.
Peter Segal, the man who would direct Shazam, talks a bit about the project while discussing his new movie Grudge Match. Turns out, Warner Brothers prefers Superman, according to the interview with Coming Soon:
After Superman Returns, it seemed like there was a moment of time when Shazam might see the light of day. Now that Superman is reinvigorated and going up against Batman, I think it’s difficult for DC to figure out how to launch the character…
This is somewhat symptomatic of how DC handles the character in general. Ever since they took over the character in the 1970s, they’ve had trouble fitting him into the comics. On the other hand, the original comics have a lot of fans, so you’d think they’d try a movie. Just not a TV series, guys; that ship has sailed.