Jake Gyllenhaal As Captain Marvel, Tobey Maguire To Abandon Spidey Role?
Rush and Malloy are reporting that Jake Gyllenhaal is slated to reprise the role of DC comic superhero Captain Marvel of "Shazam!" fame, from the popular 70's kid's show of the same name. This Captain Marvel is not to be confused with Marvel Comics "Captain Marvel." Due to copyright and trademark issues, DC Comics can't market under the Captain Marvel name, so Shazam and Captain Marvel have become synonmous in the DC world.
If true, Gyllenhaal will be reprising the role of Captain Marvel for New Line, whose alter-ego is radio reporter Billy Batson. Billy, a young man, would obtain his super powers from the wizard Shazam, which would transform him through a bolt of lightening into an adult with the powers of six legendary figures. How cool is that?!
The article states that New Line is ready to spend $200 million on the film and director Peter Segal hopes to quickly "nab" Gyllenhaal before Sam Raimi does for the continued adventures of Spider-Man. There is speculation that Maguire is ready to retire his role in the Spider-Man movies, despite his oddly huge popularity playing the webbed hero. Maybe he's just sick of looking at the Kikster. He wouldn't be alone.
Come to think of it, didn't Jake once date Kirsten Dunst? Very interesting. Moving on...Bringing comic book superheroes to the big screen has become huge business for movie makers. The popularity of the Spider-Man series, Batman Returns and now Ghostrider have generated interest in other comic figures from the DC Comics and Marvel Comics catalog. And the catalogs have depth.Â
Marvel Comics did well with The Fantastic Four, and the sequel to that will hit theatres this June with The Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer. Not all silver screen superhero films been hits though. The Superman Returns and The Hulk didn't do as well as expected, and from a movie go-ers perspective that has more to do with the treatment of the material, than the popularity of the character. The filmmakers for these two relative flops (they weren't Razzie award winners, but they weren't box office breakouts like Spider-Man or even The Fantastic Four) didn't do the stories justice. Drama and character development are essential, and while I understand it's difficult to do an origin story without some boring scenes before building up to the action, both the Hulk and the new Superman were snoozers, most especially Superman. Ugh, it was just dreadful. Being poorly cast didn't help either.
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