Shazam!

Well, look at this. The DCEU is on a roll.

After its first billion dollar success in Aquaman, Shazam has given the DCEU another hero to be proud of. No, it won’t crack Aquaman’s box office success, but audience reviews are exceptional.

Shazam is just downright fun. It’s what those of us who know the character expected, but those unfamiliar with Billy Batson have told me how surprised they are at the humor in the film. Their hesitance about a DCEU being fun is understandable, but this one is on par with just about any other superhero movie I can remember.

This movie is actually very true to the comics, which is nice. Zachary Levi is perfectly cast and is a big reason why the film is so good. He does an amazing job with the character. It will be fun exploring the Shazam family more in future sequels.

I was excited about Dr. Sivana being the villain in this and Mark Strong is a dead ringer for what I’d expect. And the tease of Mister Mind in the end credit scene is intriguing for the sequel.

Shazam succeeds where other DCEU installments have failed because you truly empathize with the hero. It wasn't rushed and thrown together to meet a release date, nor was it hampered by the production hell that seems to plague many of their projects. Billy Batson is well-developed and humanized in a way that makes him relatable. That's why this is such a breath of fresh air.

With Wonder Woman, Aquaman and now Shazam, the DCEU is in great hands moving forward. While the crossover movies have had mixed resultss the standalone films have been much more successful. Maybe they've found a formula that works.