Captain's Prerogative

Even as director Peter Segal preps for the June 20th release of the comedy "Get Smart", he's talking about his next "super-powered" assignment. He confirmed to First Showing that he just received a new draft from John August of the "Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam" script which will bring Captain Marvel to the silver screen.

In that same discussion, Segal took time to answer criticism coming from online forums about rumored plans to turn the potential franchise into an outright comedy - the story is about a 13 year old boy who becomes a 28 year old superhero.

Segal: "A lot of people were asking which, is fine, but I just want to sort of set the record straight as you know, it's not - it's going to be something you resemble, it's not going to be something that people are shocked and have no idea where it came from. I'm not trying to turn this into something it isn't."

He assures that while they will not turn it into a comedy spoof, there is an "innate humanity" in it and they "can't handle that strictly dramatically... that's why I think there's room for [Shazam] in a crowded comic book marketplace right now, because there is no story like it."

Great answer Mr. Segal!! There's too much history with the character to treat it as a spoof. But even the most "serous" comic book flicks have touches of humor throughout. Leave the major com book yuks to the folks behind Superhero The movie...