The production of David F. Sandberg's Shazam has remained firmly under wraps, but this week fans got a chance to see the first unofficial look at Zachary Levi as the fully-powered Billy Batson when a behind-the-scenes photo surfaced online showing the character in a Christmas-themed shopping mall setting. The leak was not meant to be the first glimpse at Levi in-character, and the actor has even confirmed that we were never supposed to see it. In fact, Shazam's star took to his live Instagram feed after the leak and teased that an official look at the character is coming at some point, saying:
How did everyone like that Shazam pic that was online yesterday? Kinda crazy, right? That wasn't planned. That was completely unplanned. Hopefully, we'll be able to have a better pic at some point out there for people to see.
So while some may have assumed that the set photo was an intentional leak meant to show off a portion of the Shazam costume, it now looks like that wasn't actually the case. Someone managed to sneak the photo out during production, and now Zachary Levi is doing a bit of damage control in an attempt to promise fans that they will "hopefully" see a better glimpse of the outfit in the near future.
Despite the fact that Zachary Levi's Instagram post confirms that this leak was not an official move by Warner Bros. or DC, it still does help confirm other recent rumors about the film. Specifically, director David F. Sandberg recently spoke out about the costume worn by the character in the upcoming DCEU solo movie and suggested that it would look like the outfit worn by Shazam in the 2014 animated DC film Justice League: War, as seen below
Although we did not get a full look at the outfit worn by Zachary Levi in that set photo, what we did see lived up to that Justice League: War description. The color scheme was classic Shazam, and it even featured the trademark hood seen in most New 52 takes on the character.
This is far from the only leaked set photo that we have seen from an upcoming superhero blockbuster. Moreover, it's far from the only leaked set photo showing a character who goes by the name Captain Marvel. The Marvel Cinematic Universe similarly experienced another major leak a few weeks ago when Brie Larson's take on Carol Danvers in 2019's Captain Marvel surfaced online, and fans were equally quick to dissect and criticize the outfit. It just goes to show that no production or studio is exempt from the issues presented by set leaks.
No matter what, audiences will get a chance to see Zachary Levi's full Shazam outfit when the film comes to the big screen on April 5, 2019. Until that release date comes, however, make sure to keep an eye on James Wan's Aquaman, which will debut in theaters later this year on December 21.
