Could Shazam have been taken seriously?

I'm not familiar with the character either but I do recall watching the animated movie Justice League War and it was Shazam who was the most jokey of the bunch.

What with this reputation of DC being so dark and moody, they even joked about it in Deadpool 2, I don't know if they're trying to overcompensate on this one.

Costumed comic book superheroes should never be taken seriously. They should be fun popcorn action adventures just like Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

It could have been but, I don't see the harm in this approach even if I disagree with it vehemently.

I wouldn't go as far as to say it's a disservice to the source material --- that sounds a bit dogmatic. It's a creative direction that has a fairly high likelihood of being commercially successful. I get why they chose it. I disagree with it but, that's no reason to tear it down. Shazam is a character that could be played for laughs or made out to be ultra-serious. It could honestly work either way.

In many ways, I saw Shazam as an opportunity for WB/DC to redeem Superman - same powerset but none of the baggage. Shazam wouldn't be saddled with feelings of alienation or ambivalence. At heart, Billy Batson is an optimist. He is also naive but, not to the point of being a beer-craving imbecile. Billy has always struck me as a kid who was forced by circumstance to grow up faster than kids his age and, take on adult responsibilities.

I was hoping for a more reverent tone for this character. Shazam does what he does perfectly. He should be so fast it feels like teleportation and not a physical movement. His strength should be used almost effortlessly, no grunts of exertion or pained expressions - he should be all eerie smiles as bones crack and brick walls are reduced to a fine mist with a single punch. And the lightning, ... It should be majestic and not like 1980s-style force lightning. When he calls it, it should glass the surface he's standing on. Shazam is a being of magic, not science. His powers should feel like magic.

I get what they're doing but, honestly, the more I see of it, the more it feels like they took the path of least resistance for the character. Shazam isn't an inherently silly concept like a man who shrinks down to the size of an insect or a talking Raccoon might be considered (to most).

In the past, DC has toyed with the idea that Batson and Marvel are two different entities. Batson is the earnest man-child (not in the derogatory sense) who calls the shots while Captain Marvel is the magical creature who is at his command. I like that approach better than Captain Marvel as a literal overgrown child. The magical being should be an amplification of the human beings attributes (thus the dictatorial Teth-Adam is transformed into the megalomaniacal Black Adam).

It looks like they are adapting the more recent New 52 Shazam and, sidestepping The Power of Shazam! graphic novel by Jerry Ordway. It's a missed opportunity for sure. The net effect of their creative choices for me is my utter indifference to the movie. I could take it or leave it on opening night.

I will say this definitively though, based on what I've seen so far, Djimon Hounsou looks and sounds like he's headed for Razzie territory. He sounds like an angry, African football coach and, not an ancient Wizard.