Following Aquaman's release in December 2018, the DC films universe will progress forward with Shazam, starring the previously-named Captain Marvel. Since the movie was officially announced as part of the franchise, fans have been wondering who will play the World's Mightiest Mortal, and now we have our answer. It'll be Chuck star Zachary Levi donning the red, lightning bolt-emblazoned costume (not to be confused with a certain other DC superhero with similar duds).
According to THR, Zachary Levi has signed on to star in Shazam, which is being directed by Lights Out's David F. Sandberg. For those unfamiliar with the character, the Shazam mythos follows a young boy named Billy Batson who can transform into a mighty adult superhero upon saying the word "Shazam," the word being an acronym for the legendary figures that he drives his powers from (Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury). Other actors who were up for the role of the powerful superhero included John Cena, Derek Theler, Zane Holtz, Billy Magnussen and Jake McDorman, but now longtime fans can look forward to Levi playing this version of the Big Red Cheese.
Shazam won't be Zachary Levi's first foray into the world of comic book media. He's already left his mark on the Marvel Cinematic Universe by playing Fandral in Thor: The Dark World (inheriting the role from Joshua Dallas), and he can be seen reprising the character next week in Thor: Ragnarok. Levi is arguably best known for playing Chuck Bartowski on the NBC series Chuck, with his other notable credits including Less than Perfect, Tangled and Heroes Reborn. Along with Shazam, the actor's other upcoming appearances include Psych: The Movie, Office Uprising and Blood Fest.
Outside of telling Billy Batson's origin story, no plot details for Shazam have been revealed yet. Originally the plan was for Shazam to battle his arch-nemesis, Black Adam, who is being played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. However, Black Adam is now set to make his theatrical debut in his own movie, and his conflict with Shazam will be saved for another movie. A new main villain hasn't been announce yet, but my money's on Doctor Sivana, the mad scientist who has antagonized Shazam since the beginning. Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke wrote the Shazam screenplay, and Peter Safran is attached as a producer.
Shazam is scheduled to begin production next February. An official release date hasn't been set yet, though David F. Sandberg expects it will still come out in April 2019. Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more Shazam updates (including who is cast as the adolescent Billy Batson), and look through our DC movie guide to see what other cinematic projects this franchise has coming up.
