I just saw Shazam on Sunday and thought it was great. Yes, the beginning was very dark and at first I thought I was in the wrong part of the theater. And Shazam was actually Captain Marvel, before there was a Captain Marvel under Marvel Comics. There was a huge lawsuit among Detective Comics (DC Comics), the guy that created Superman, and Marvel.
Yeah, I’m familiar that Billy Batson is Captain Marvel, but was given to DC as part of a settlement, but DC forgot about the trademark and Marvel jumped on it.
I thought something was wrong at the beginning as well. I wasn’t expecting people to be eaten in a movie that was supposed to be a light hearted movie.
Turnabout is fair play. Decades earlier DC had sued Fawcett considering Captain Marvel to be a Superman ripoff because ‘super powers’.
The original Captain Marvel was from Fawcett in the 1940s. DC sued Fawcett, and finally won years later in 1951.
Captain Marvel was ruled an illicit copy of Superman. Since CM actually outsold Superman, DC was judged to have suffered financial losses, and won the lawsuit.
Atlas (before that, Timely) Comics was not called Marvel Comics for another decade, when they reintroduced superhero comics, starting with The Fantastic Four (which series introduced the Skrulls in FF #2) in 1961.
Marvel Comic’s Captain Marvel (Kree Mar-Vell) debuted in late 1967; Carol Danvers (later, Ms. Marvel) debuted in early 1968.
The original Marvel Comics was a specific comic title by Timely Comics, much as Detective Comics was a specific comic title by National Comics.
Detective Comics (D.C.) ultimately became the overall company name, just as Marvel Comics ultimately became the overall company name.