It’s vox populi that DC has been dragging behind Marvel for a long time already. If we look for the most anticipated movies of 2019 in big databases such as IMDb or Fandango, or hey, even The Playlist, we’ll find out not only that Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” and “Captain Marvel” (funny enough in the present case) are the ones that top both lists, but also that DC didn’t even make the cut. When a formula persistently turns out to be a failure, one can do nothing but change the method. And that’s exactly what the guys from DC’s studio just did.
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This past weekend, however, we were surprised by the launch of a sneak peek of the long-awaited second “Shazam!” trailer, which seems to finally set the new different tone in the DCEU the fans were crying out for, far from the murkier, never-ending Justice League movies (“Suicide Squad,” “Aquaman”). Here’s the official synopsis:
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).
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As that new trailer has arrived, we can rejoice in the new atmosphere, way more playful and deliberately friendlier, with a Zachary Levi (“Chuck,” “Thor: The Dark World”) particularly on form as the Elvis-like, muscled superhero—despite the accusations of his costume being “a crap suit.” Asher Angel (“Jolene”) seems to cope pretty well too embodying Billy Batson, the 14-year-old that can turn into Shazam just by shouting out his name. Mark Strong (“Kingsman: The Secret Service”) complete the cast as Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, and the infamous villain Black Adam played by Dwayne Johnson, well he’ll just have to wait to face off against Shazam. He’s apparently going to appear first in his forthcoming standalone movie, but we’ll believe that when we see it.
READ MORE: DC Films Gives Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam His Own Movie
Directed by the no-budget horror films master David F. Sandberg (“Annabelle: Creation,” “Lights Out”), “Shazam!” will arrive in theaters on April 5, 2019.
 directs New Line Cinema’s "Shazam!," the origin story that stars Zachary Levi as the titular DC Super Hero.){kind=link}