Peter Segal is busy developing Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam for the film, and has confirmed that John August is back to work on a script which draws heavily from the DC comics roots of the character. Speaking to SCI-FI Wire while promoting Get Smart, Segal explained where he sees the film going.

"There've been several incarnations [of the origin story]," Segal said, "And there's a new incarnation about how Billy has to win the approval of the individual gods before he can gain their powers, and that's a completely different take from the original. So, once again, we're staying very faithful to the source material, and we're just continuing to work and try to make the script as good as it can be."

Segal also denied any rumors about any actor being strongly in consideration for the role of Captain Marvel. Segal said that no one has been approached for the role as of yet, and specifically denied offering the part to Patrick Warburton - while at the same time acknowledging that Warburton might make a good choice for the part. "We haven't really discussed Patrick," Segal said. "I love him, and I'm working with him right now. Never talked about that particular role with him. There have been a lot of rumors about [Captain Marvel]--and it's fun for me to read all the rumors. Not that Patrick wouldn't be good for it, but we have not spoken."

In the comics, Shazam! tells the story of Billy Batson, an orphaned youth who works as a newsboy and was chosen to be a champion of good by the wizard Shazam. When Billy speaks the wizard's name, he is struck by a bolt of mystic lightning that transforms him into an adult superhero known as Captain Marvel. As Marvel, Billy possesses the powers of six mythical figures. Billy is not the only one who has been given this power - in ancient Egypt, a man known as Teth-Adam was given this power by the wizard, becoming Black Adam. Black Adam eventually was corrupted by his power, and the wizard banished him, with Black Adam returning to Earth in the modern era, to do battle with Captain Marvel.