The Shazam franchise relies on family. Maybe even as much as The Fast & Furious, and we all know how important family is to Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel). But the close-knit cast that forms a foster family on screen actually did form the bonds of a family off-screen, and so when one of the original Shazam actors learned that they were going to replace a cast mate, the news of the promotion was, in her own words, “bittersweet.”
In the first Shazam movie, young actors played the foster siblings of Billy Batson (Asher Angel). But at the end of the movie, older Billy (Zachary Levi) was able to divide his powers up throughout his foster family, creating new superheroes played by different actors. The incredible scene played out as such:
Heading into the upcoming DC movie Shazam: Fury of the Gods, however, Warner Bros. made a casting decision. Grace Caroline Currey, who played young Mary in the original movie, was going to also play Super Mary in the sequel. She was going to be the only member of the younger cast who is ALSO playing their superhero. (For example, Jack Dylan Grazer plays Freddy Freeman, but when he turns into a superhero, Adam Brody assumes the role.) They would even get updated suits! But when I asked Currey what it felt like to learn she was going to wear Mary’s super suit in the sequel, she candidly admitted:
It was a dream come true, and also somewhat bittersweet. Because it meant getting to step into the position Michelle Borth had been in (in Shazam). So, you know, funny enough, I didn't celebrate. It was a funny thing, to be entirely honest. Because it's a very special role, and we're such a tight family. The idea of not having someone come back was bittersweet. That being said, I love Mary so much. What a gift to get to play her throughline of human and superhero form, and be responsible for both parts, especially being an adult, myself. It was something that I definitely treasured having in my hands.
The situation had to be a little bit awkward. No actor ever wants to lose a gig, or be the one responsible for another working actor to lose out on a part. At the same time, Grace Carolina Currey looked old enough to be one of the Super Shazam family in the first movie, and so allowing her to transition into Super Mary in the sequel did make sense. We also, however, talked about the fact that the Shazam family gets a lot of press in the new sequel. So why is it that her foster parents don’t recognize their daughter in her super suit? And Currey did say:
We talked about that! (laughs). Because in the lair, we've got this big wall of newspaper clippings. … (The family is) making the news. And we did kind of a photo shoot of what those images might be in the newspaper. And I said, ‘I think Mary would… she’s not necessarily front and center.’ In some iterations of her comic book character, there have been hoods, and that would've been funny. That would've been a fun thing to get to play with and be like, ‘Who is this hooded little crusader?’
Ah, the old secret identity. Something every superhero has to deal with at some point in their lives. What other obstacles will Shazam (Zachary Levi) and his family face in the sequel? Grab tickets for Shazam: Fury of the Gods and find out on March 17.
