DC Films isn’t above casting unknowns in major roles. Gal Gadot was hardly a star when she was cast as “Wonder Woman,” and no one really knows who Ray Fisher is aside from the fact that he’s the “Justice League”’s Cyborg. So perhaps it isn’t that strange that the studio has hired outside the box for their upcoming “Shazam!” movie.
The role of Earth’s mightiest mortal has gone to Zachary Levi, the former star of NBC’s action-comedy/spy-drama television series “Chuck.” Levi doesn’t exactly have much heat to his career and arguably never has. His big screen CV includes “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” “Tangled” and perhaps more notably, two appearances as Fandral in Marvel‘s “Thor” movies. But clearly DC Films and Warner Bros. see some untapped potential in the actor.
Perhaps Levi’s comedic and sunny disposition is perfect for the character formerly known as Captain Marvel (and referred to as such in the comics for a long time). Shazam’s alter ego is Billy Batson, a young boy who transforms into the super hero by proclaiming the word SHAZAM!, an acronym supposed to represent six “immortal elders” whom the character draws his powers from: Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury. Shazam’s powers are pretty much akin to Superman’s – super strength, the ability to fly, and lighting fast reflexes on top of nearly invulnerable skin.
In some iterations of the character, Shazam still retained Batson’s emotional immaturity and thus was a big kid of a super hero who sulked when scolded by Batman (the amusing Justice League International series of the late 1980s). In the New 52 DC relaunch which was begun in 2011 by Geoff Johns – DC Films’ current creative chief – the character was treated much more seriously though his world was “far more rooted in fantasy and magic than it ever was before.” Betting movigoers would be smart to err on the Johns’ side of Shazam, given his key role in shaping the movies.
David F. Sandberg, known for his debut feature “Lights Out” in 2016 and the quick 2017 follow up, “Annabelle: Creation,” will helm “Shazam.” The latter horror sequel has grossed a super-profitable $303 million worldwide off a $15 million budget.
“Shazam” is set to be the next DC Films picture to be shot sometime next year, presumably with a 2019 release date in mind. “Shazam” is set up at New Line and not Warner Bros. which suggests the movie will live in its own universe. In 2014, New Line boss Toby Emmerich said as much. “It feels to me like like ‘Shazam’ will have a tone unto itself,” he said. “It’s a DC comic, but it’s not a Justice League character, and it’s not a Marvel comic. The tone and the feeling of the movie will be different from the other range of comic book movies.”
But that was three years ago and as we’ve all seen from the outside, DC Films’ plans change often. Dwayne Johnson is set to play Black Adam, Shazam’s main adversary, but all reports thus far suggest The Rock won’t be in the picture and New Line will introduce the character in a standalone movie. [THR]
I believe Zachary Levi is a good mate of Joss Whedon. Whedon appears on Levi’s Nerd HQ every year. So since Whedon took the helm on Justice League and, since his massive success with The Avengers, it would not surprise me if Whedon suggested Levi, and the studio listened.