Marvel fans will hate me for this, but I’m DC all the way. With the exception of Ben Affleck as Batman (why..?) the films have been epic, if a bit dark.

DC seems keen to move away from its dark image, though, unveiling their upcoming superhero film Shazam! at San Diego Comic-Con.

Yeah, the same event where people went all out with the costumes.

In a departure from DC’s usual grim image, Shazam! looks surprisingly funny.

Here’s The Verge with a synopsis:

The trailer introduces us to Billy Batson, a kid who’s introduced to a new foster family and school. After fighting off a couple of bullies, he’s chosen by a wizard called Shazam, who tells him that if he utters his name, he’ll gain superpowers.

He does, and he abruptly turns into an adult hero. Think Big, but with superpowers — he works on trying to figure out what his powers are — zapping people’s phones to charge them and discovers that he’s bullet proof.

It looks like a surprisingly funny and zany superhero film, which will be a huge turn from the incredibly grim DC films like Man of Steel and Batman V. Superman.

Definitely less filthy than Deadpool, and probably less gory than Kick-Ass, but there are some similarities.

Check out the trailer:

You’ll notice that Billy Batson is the first DC character to get a film, who isn’t part of the Justice League. This is because:

DC has pulled back from its more ambitious overarching Expanded Universe in favor of films that are a bit more standalone following the success of Wonder Woman. While that means that the character isn’t as readily recognizable to filmgoing audiences, Marvel has certainly demonstrated in the last decade that it can maintain a superhero franchise with characters that audiences aren’t as familiar with, like Ant-Man or Iron Man.

I’m getting Kick-Ass meets Ant-Man meets Sargon the Sorcerer. 

Shazam! opens in cinemas on April 19, 2019.

[source:theverge]