Marvel Studios is dominating the superhero movie landscape at the moment, with Avengers: Infinity War cleaning house and the anticipated Deadpool 2 dropping shortly. (Technically, that's a FOX movie, but Wade's a Marvel antihero, so you get the gist.) DC, meanwhile, is laying back, planning its next moves, and preparing to pounce. One way they thought they could steal back some of the hype spotlight was to release the official first look at Zachary Levi in the Shazam outfit, a photo that we thought was arriving -- well, weeks ago. It never came, and Shazam! director David F. Sandberg explains why:
Let's try and deduce what David F. Sandberg is referring to here in this Tweet. This is my best guess, and doesn't come from any actual behind-the-scenes knowledge. But I'm thinking that Warner Bros. had a plan to reveal Zachary Levi in the Shazam suit at CinemaCon in Las Vegas last month. The studio brought Aquaman footage to the presentation, and had a panel that included James Wan and Jason Momoa. DC fans likely assumed that Shazam!, which has been filming in Canada, would have some footage... maybe a sizzle reel. But it didn't happen.
The new plan LIKELY involves San Diego Comic-Con. We know that Marvel Studios will be sitting out of Hall H this year, with nothing major to share because of the timing of the event -- after Ant-Man and the Wasp, but WAY before Captain Marvel or Avengers 4. This means that Warner Bros. and DC can make a huge splash in San Diego if they have a souped up Hall H presentation that includes more Aquaman footage, the first Shazam! look, and maybe Gal Gadot and Kristen Wiig on stage with Patty Jenkins to plug Wonder Woman 2. DC has a few things cooking. They're just OK with making fans wait.
There was a leak of a set pic of Shazam! that showed off Zachary Levy in the suit. But because we think that a lot of enhancements will be made to the look in post-production, we're not going to share it here. We want that first real look at Shazam to pop off the screen. If it's July at Comic-Con, all the better.
Shazam! has plenty of time to promote. The movie's release date is just under a year away, so you can see why David F. Sandberg is hunkering down and doing what he can to present the best origin story for Shazam that's possible. Zachary Levi will play one half of the hero, while the kid side of this super-powered being will be occupied by Asher Angel. The rest of the cast rounds out with Mark Strong, Jack Dylan Grazer, Grace Fulton and Ron Cephas Jones.
Shazam! opens in theaters on April 5, 2019. Stay up to date on this movie, and all pending DC movies, by bookmarking our DC Portal Page.
