The DC live-action universe has already had plenty of peaks and valleys, although things appear to be on the upswing. Warner Bros. is currently surfing on the massive success of James Wan's Aquaman, with a sequel and spinoff already being developed by the studio. The next release coming down the pipeline is Shazam! which looks to have a tone unique to anything else from the genre. Early reception for Shazam! has been overwhelmingly popular, especially focused on the performance by Zachary Levi as the title character.
Thor alum Zachary Levi is playing the superheroic half of Shazam, and must maintain a sense of childlike wonder throughout the upcoming blockbuster. Luckily, that doesn't seem to be much of a problem. Because the actor was recently given the chance to play with merchandise from the movie, and went bonkers with excitement. Check it out below.
I mean, come on. Just from this clip, you can see how Zachary Levi ended up being cast as the title character of Shazam! He's living his best life as a DC superhero, and is particularly tickled with all the merch in his likeness. Because who doesn't want to be an action figure?
The above video shows Zachary Levi feasting his eyes on Shazam! toys for the very first time. They include a large action figure, a smaller one, a chest plate, as well as his collectible Funko Pop doll. They all make Levi freak out for different reasons, and his excitement is a bit contagious. For instance, he seems pleased as punch that his action figure has plenty of points of articulation, and is super flexible. Meanwhile, merely having his own Funko Pop is giving the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel actor reason to cheer.
Zachary Levi also seems excited for how well his likeness was captured on his action figures. While toy faces can sometimes deviate from the real actor's appearance as they're produced in mass, Levi seems to think they nailed it for Shazam!'s toys. But perhaps the biggest reaction came from the Shazam chest plate, which makes noises and lights up, giving its owners the powers of lightning in the process.
Overall, this video just proves how Zachary Levi was the only choice to play the superheroic title character of Shazam! His childlike wonder was already obvious in the film's trailer, as 14 year old Billy Batson struggles with his myriad abilities. But acting jazzed about becoming a superhero might not have been much of a stretch for Levi, as he's been giddy throughout the process.
Luckily for the fans, Shazam! will arrive in theaters in about a month, so it won't be much longer to wait until Zachary Levi's DC debut finally arrives. Levi is no stranger to the superhero genre, having played Fandral in the last two Thor movies. But his character never really got fleshed out, so Levi was happy to be killed off in Ragnarok so he could pivot to DC and lead his very own franchise. Not a bad deal.
Shazam! will arrive in theaters on April 5th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
