A little over a week ago, Disney dropped the latest trailer for the live action Aladdin remake, and at the very end, it included our first look at Will Smith’s Genie in his natural blue form. This debut was met with a lot of mockery online, and Shazam! director David F. Sandberg has joined in on the fun by giving the main villain of his upcoming movie, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, the blue treatment as well.
I like that in addition to giving Mark Strong’s Thaddeus Sivana blue skin, David F. Sandberg went the extra mile and also gave Shazam’s nemesis the ponytail that Genie rocks. Granted, Sivana doesn’t look quite as intimidating as he usually does, but I’d like to think that the blue skin/ponytail combo enhances his already impressive special abilities, which is bad news for the World’s Mightiest Mortal. Now would also be a good time to start playing Eiffel 65’s “Blue” to set the mood.
David F. Sandberg posted this amusing edited photo after a fan asked on Twitter if the reason that another full-length Shazam! trailer hasn’t been released yet is because this is an “Aladdin situation” where Sandberg and Warner Bros are trying to hide something that they’re not confident in. Given the reaction to Will Smith’s blue Genie, Sandberg made the right call getting ahead of the blue scandal surrounding Sivana. In all seriousness, Sandberg has since said that there aren’t specific trailer updates he can share just yet, but with the movie less than two months away, it’s not as though there’s going to be a shortage of Shazam! marketing in the coming weeks.
Thus far, we haven’t seen much of Thaddeus Sivana in the Shazam! previews, but what little has been shown highlights that he’ll be a physical match for Billy Batson in his superpowered form. In the DC Extended Universe, Sivana was brought to the Rock of Eternity as a child by the mysterious Wizard, but didn’t end up being chosen to serve as the Wizard’s champion. As an adult, Sivana has been trying to unlock the secrets of magic through science, and since he’s capable of blocking one of Shazam’s punches and shooting lightning, clearly he’s somehow accomplished this. Just to be clear, though, Sivana these magical powers will not result in him turning blue at any point.
As for Aladdin, it’s comes out nearly two months after Shazam!, so there’s still plenty of time to finish post-production work on the remake. Similar to Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book, this Disney adaptation looks like it won’t differ too much from its animated predecessor, although there are still some creative liberties being taken. Along with Will Smith, Aladdin’s cast includes Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, Marwan Kenzari, Navid Negabhan, Nasim Pedrad, Billy Magnussen, Numan Acar and Robby Haynes, as well as Frank Welker returning to voice The Cave of Wonders and Abu the monkey.
Shazam! will work its magic in theaters on April 5, and Aladdin will follow suit on May 24. As for what else is coming out later this year, head to our 2019 release schedule for that information.
