When it comes to the DC cinematic universe, the results are a mixed bag of complete flops and pleasant surprises. That being said, the DCEU is getting something of a facelift with the Snyder Cut of Justice League and the prospect of a revised Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad. But there’s always the possibility of this being a case of too little, too late.
On the positive side of things, we did get movies like Joker and Shazam!, with the latter doing well enough to get the green light for a sequel from the studio and even a spinoff featuring The Rock. And Zachary Levi sure is putting in the work to get absolutely ripped for his role in Shazam! 2.
Taking to Instagram, the actor shared the below photo this week, which might be a direct response to past comments about his physique not being up to the mark in the first movie. Regardless, there’s no denying that the actor is taking his physical appearance very seriously for his future role as the lightening-powered superhero. After all, he’s going to be going up against Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam at some point.
During Awesome-Con Online 2020, Levi also revealed that the script of the sequel is still a work in progress but looks to be shaping up well, saying:
“The truth is, I don’t know much because they’re still working on the script. I know some general stuff and I’m super stoked about all of the general stuff that I’ve heard. But ultimately what I want, I want the movie to be better than what we gave people the first time, which I think was a really good movie.”
Shazam! was certainly a rare gem in the DCEU catalog when it first released, adopting a lighter tone when compared to films like Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. It was action-packed, funny, featured a great cast of likable characters and was all around just a really fun ride. It was a great origin story for a promising new superhero franchise, too, one that received very positive reviews.
For all those reasons and more, we sure hope Shazam! eventually joins the larger roster of DC heroes and adds some much needed levity to the universe. At least we know Levi would be up for it.
