It's been a busy couple of weeks for the upcoming blockbuster Shazam! The next DCEU movie to go into production, Shazam! recently found its lead in the form of Zachary Levi. Levi will play the adult superhero version of the character, and though the movie has yet to find his pre-teen alter ego, it has found one of his friends. Annabelle: Creation star Grace Futon is in talks to join the cast of Shazam! with the specifics of her character remaining a mystery.
According to Variety, Grace Fulton is in negotiations to join Shazam! Very little is known about her character at this point, but she is described as being a childhood friend of Billy Batson. By crying out "shazam," Batson can transform into a superpowered adult named Shazam. Fulton mostly has appeared in television roles, recurring on programs like Awkward and Revenge before breaking out this summer in the horror prequel Annabelle: Creation. This makes Shazam! something of an Annabelle: Creation reunion; Shazam! director David F. Sandberg and producer Peter Safran both worked on Annabelle: Creation with Fulton. It never hurts to have some connections in showbiz!
While we know next to nothing about Grace Fulton's character, there are some details we can work out from just her casting. The specific age of the Billy Batson character has not been revealed yet, but the casting of Fulton at least hints that he could be in his mid to late-teens. Fulton is 21 years old and can convincingly play, say, 16 or 17. So, this could give us an idea of how old Billy is supposed to be in the movie. As for her specific character, the only one that really jumps to mind is Mary Batson, Billy's long-lost sister. The two were friends before they learned that they were actually related, and Billy shared some of his powers with her so that she could transform into the hero Mary Marvel. Fulton could always be playing a different character though.
Shazam! is set to be the next DC film to go into production, and it will be directed by David S. Sandberg with a screenplay written by Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke. The plot is being kept tightly under wraps, but there are rumors that Mark Strong is in talks to play the main villain. We still have plenty of questions about Shazam!, but those will likely be answered soon as the movie speeds toward its production date.
Currently, Shazam! is scheduled to hit theaters on April 5, 2019. Learn about which DCEU films are hitting theaters soon with our DC film guide. For all the movies still yet to debut in 2017, make sure to refer to our movie guide for what's coming to theaters soon.
