Zachary Levi’s ‘Shazam!’ Get First Official Look In Costume And Signals Huge Tonal Shift From Other DC Films
The first official look at Shazam! arrived Monday evening via the man playing the boyish superhero, Zachary Levi. The actor has shared a picture of himself with a poster of the titular character via his Instagram account and it is already separating itself from the rest of the DC Comics Extended Universe (DCEU) with a completely different tone.
Levi was at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas where he came across the Shazam! poster featuring him in full hero garb and sipping on a tall drink through a straw comedically with pursed lips and raised eyebrows. The costume itself is pulled straight from the “New 52” edition of the DC Comics character with the large yellow lightning bolt down the chest of a red outfit and a white cape with a hood.
Previously leaked images from the set of Shazam! (via IMDB) provided an early look at the costume design but this is the best look by far. Levi’s photo provides clear detail to the requisite texture to the suit along with the ornamental designs around the cape and gauntlets.
Shazam! will be a more light-hearted and comedic take on the superhero genre as teenage Billy Batson is able to transform it to the magic-powered hero through yelling the magic word. For those unfamiliar with the character, he’s similar to Superman in size, stature, and strength but is able to call down lightning strikes instead of heat ray vision. The two have actually gone toe-to-toe with one another more once. The superhero is also known for being more than a bit naïve in the comics because this is essentially a young boy in a god-like man’s body, which typically leads to extra problems as he tries to deal with villains.
Dwayne Johnson is serving as one of the executive producers of Shazam! and is said to be slated to play the character’s arch-nemesis, Black Adam, at some point in the DCEU. Mark Strong (Kingsman) will be the villain Dr. Thaddeus Sivana in the first film and Jack Dylan Grazer (IT) will play young Billy’s best friend, Freddy.
Other members of Billy Batson’s foster family include Grace Fulton (Annabelle: Creation) as Mary, Faithe Herman (This is Us) as Darla, Ian Chen (Fresh of the Boat) as Eugene, and Jovan Armand (Hawaii Five-0) as Pedro. The foster parents are Victor and Rosa Vaszquez played by Cooper Andrews (The Walking Dead) and Marta Milans (Killer Women). Finally, Ron Cephas Jones (This is Us) was cast as the Wizard who grants Billy the powers of Shazam!
“We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s (Angel) case, by shouting out one word—SHAZAM!—this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam (Levi), courtesy of an ancient wizard. Still a kid at heart—inside a ripped, godlike body—Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them! Can he fly? Does he have X-ray vision? Can he shoot lightning out of his hands? Can he skip his social studies test? Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of a child. But he’ll need to master these powers quickly in order to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Strong).”
Shazam! is being produced by New Line Cinema and is expected to hit theaters on April 5, 2019. The next DC Comics film is Aquaman slated for December 21, 2018. Additionally, Wonder Woman 2 is currently scheduled for the big screen on November 1, 2019.
