HERO OF THE WEEK: CAPTAIN MARVEL (DC)Real Name: Billy Batson
First Appearance: Whiz Comics #2 (February, 1940)
Fight Club Ranking: #111
Featured Fights:
- vs MACRO-MAN: Legends #1 (Nov 1986)
- vs THOR: Marvel versus DC #2 (Mar 1996)
- vs DARKSEID & THANOS: DC versus Marvel #4 (Apr 1996)
- vs SUPERMAN: Kingdom Come #4 (Aug 1996)
- vs SUPERMAN & BATMAN: Superman/Batman #4 (Jan 2004)
- vs BLACK ADAM: Hawkman #24 (Mar 2004)
- vs SUPERMAN: Superman #216 (Jun 2005)
Last year's casting news tempered expectations for the long-awaited modern cinematic debut of Captain Marvel. Cautious hope for the light touch implied by Zachary Levi has been the best order available -- until last week finally produced the first glimpse of the actor in-costume!
The candid snap shared to Twitter by @BatmanNewsCom is a far cry from a promotional vanity shot, but as a first-glimpse it actually offers some fairly promising impressions!
There's a lot to like, from the colourful Christmas set decoration of what's presumably a mall - to the bold red of Captain Marvel's costume! It's sadly never an Alex Ross painting come to life when Hollywood's concerned, but it very easily could've been a whole lot worse!
The long cape and stock standard accoutrements (that belt) don't excite, but they seem to have resisted making him too similar to other designs. I'm also particularly liking the apparent lack of piping, panels, or armor plating. That brand of ugly action figure aesthetic has increasingly had its fangs in comics and multimedia. All I can say is: phew!
It's disappointing to see some folks struggling to embrace the vivid colour palette that is one of this costumes strengths, but who can really blame them? Superhero iconography on screen has been a fairly drab, uninspiring spread for the better part of two decades now! With movies increasingly encroaching on the page, and very few comic style live-action exceptions, young audiences really don't have a whole to go on. Here's hoping Shazam! can push back against the bleak tide!
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