After a long and exhaustive search, Warner Bros. has finally found an actor to lead David Sandberg’s upcoming Shazam!
Last night, it was revealed that the role’s gone to Chuck star Zachary Levi, who will now step into the shoes of Billy Batson, a boy who can transform into an adult superhero by uttering the magic word “Shazam!” Of course, Levi will be playing the older version of the character, while the search still continues for someone to portray the younger Billy.
Given that the actor is most well known for his comedic chops, this will defintiely be a bit of a departure for him. That being said, he does have some superhero movie experience thanks to his role of Fandral in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not to mention he’s also got the nerd cred as well, due to his work on the aforementioned Chuck, which was a huge hit. All things considered then, Levi’s an exciting choice to lead the pic and we’re looking forward to seeing him join the DCEU.
Though it’ll be a while before we get an official look at him as the titular hero, fan artist extraordinaire Boss Logic is back once again to give us a pretty good idea of how Levi may appear in the movie. As usual, he’s done a fantastic job and you can check his design out in the gallery below along with some of his other recent work.
Unfortunately, not much else can be said regarding Shazam! at the moment, aside from the fact that Black Adam won’t be included, as he’s getting his own separate film. Thus, we fully expect the Big Red Cheese to do battle with Doctor Sivana or some other major villain. That, and we’ve also been told that this will be a much more lighthearted outing for the DCEU than what we’ve seen before.
Speaking about his plans back in the summer, Sandberg touched base on the tone of the project, saying:
“The big attraction for me with that character is the fact that every kid dreams of being Superman, right? I mean I certainly did, and (Billy Batson) is a kid that gets that chance. He gets to become the superhero. So, it’ll be big with superpowers in a way. In terms of what people can expect, I think this will be one of the more fun or lighthearted movies so far in the DC universe. It certainly will be a departure.”
Shazam! will touch down in theatres on April 5th, 2019. Tell us, are you happy with Levi in the lead role, or did you want someone else to take the job? Let us know in the comments section down below!
