WIRE Buzz: OG Shazam! series coming to DC Universe; Power Rangers Beast Morphers first look

Welcome to the latest edition of WIRE Buzz!

In this latest roundup of genre-related news, we've got developments on Shazam! (not the movie, the old TV show), Power Rangers Beast Morphers, and Disney's Dumbo remake.

In honor of the upcoming live-action Shazam! film, DC Universe will stream the short-lived television series also based on the hero, which ran between 1974 and 1976 for a total of three seasons.

The WB-owned streaming service announced this on Twitter yesterday, writing:

"Starting Tuesday [March 5], relive the original #Shazam! series, now remastered for the first time in HD. All three seasons will be streaming, only on #DCUNIVERSE."

One of the most '70s things you'll ever lay eyes on, the show featured Michael Gray as Billy Batson, who traveled the country in an RV with Mentor (Les Tremayne), looking for wrongs he could right. Jackson Bostwick originally played Shazam! before he was replaced by John Davey.

Directed by David F. Sandberg (Lights Out), the Shazam! movie opens in theaters April 5. Asher Angel stars as Billy Batson, while Zachary Levi plays his superhero form.

This morning, Nickelodeon debuted an initial look at the first episode of its brand-new Power Rangers series, Beast Morphers.

Set in the future, the show finds a new team blending the power of the Morphin Grid with the DNA of animals to create all whole host of new technologies. All the morphers and megazords are used to fight off the evil virus known as Evox.

Watch the clip below:

As you can see, the new series has all the lovable cheesiness of the original '90s-era show with a few updated special effects.

The new cast includes: Rorrie Travis (Devon/ Red Ranger), Jasmeet Baduwalia (Ravi/ Blue Ranger), Jacqueline Scislowski (Zoey/ Yellow Ranger), Colby Strong (Blaze Ranger) Liana Ramirez (Roxy), Abraham Rodriguez (Nate), Kristina Ho (Betty), and Cosme Flores (Ben).

Power Rangers Beast Morphers makes its worldwide debut on Nickelodeon on March 2.

Disney has dropped a new, behind-the-scenes featurette for Tim Burton's live-action Dumbo remake, which opens in theaters later this month.

With testimonials from Danny DeVito (Max Medici), Colin Farrell (Holt Farrier), Eva Green (Colette Marchant), and Michael Keaton (V. A. Vandevere), the video highlights the director's understanding of "outsiders" and the sheer amount of details that went into the circus sets.

"I got such goosebumps when I walked down to the set for the first time," Farrell says.

Watch the featurette below:

Based on the 1941 animated film of the same name (itself based on Helen Aberson's book), the movie centers on a young elephant with enormously flappy ears. Everyone considers this to be an ugly trait until they realize that Dumbo's large ears give him the uncanny ability to fly and soar around the ring with ease.

"We need this movie right now," says Danny DeVito in the featurette. 

"It's such a powerful, universal story," adds Green.

Written by Ehren Kruger (The Ring), Burton's Dumbo flies into theaters March 29.