If you’re going to be a superhero, you’ll need a cool costume, and Shazam, a.k.a. the crimefighter previously known as Captain Marvel, has one of the coolest costumes in the DC universe. Naturally a lot of time and energy was spent making the World’s Mightiest Mortal’s outfit look as impressive as possible for the Shazam! movie, and it turns out that the material used for that costume was also used to make a special Shazam suit for director David F. Sandberg. Check it out!
Normally when a superhero movie is done shooting, the costumes are put in storage, so it stood to reason that neither David F. Sandberg nor Zachary Levi would be able to take the Shazam outfit home with them. However, evidently that doesn’t prevent one from having an actual suit made from the costume’s same fabric from being commissioned, and Sandberg was given such threads by costume designer Leah Butler. She even went supplied Sandberg with a bow tie made from the same material as the cape. The ensemble might not be a great look when it comes to fighting bad guys, but the filmmaker definitely looks dapper in this Instagram picture.
Alas, David F. Sandberg won’t be wearing this special suit to the Shazam! premiere, and I don’t blame him. Although it looks good, I imagine it would be quite uncomfortable to wear for however many hours that event lasts. Still, it’ll probably hold a prestigious spot in Sandberg’s closet, and maybe he’ll put it on every now and then when recalling his time working on Shazam! Personally, I’d purchase a large glass display case and place the suit in there like it’s one of Batman’s costumes.
As for the main Shazam! costume, 10 of them were made and cost about $1 million each to make. David F. Sandberg explained a lot of work went into making the costume look just right, which required testing different shades, fabrics, lightning bolt shapes, etc, hence the hefty price tag. The end result is a Shazam costume that looks a lot like what the hero has worn in the comics and other media projects, although Zachary Levi confirmed that it’s not pleasant wearing the costume, mainly because it’s inconvenient when needing to use the bathroom.
Inspired by various eras of Shazam’s comic book history, the Shazam! movie chronicles Billy Batson’s origin story, as just like on the printed page, he meets the mysterious Wizard and is given the ability to transform into an adult superhero who has powers like super strength, electricity manipulation and hyper speed. However, Billy won’t have long to get the hang of these powers, as he’ll have to fight Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, who has obtained his own magical abilities.
Shazam! will work its magic in theaters on April 5, but be sure to read CinemaBlend’s review of the movie. Don’t forget to also look through our DC movies guide to learn what else the superhero franchise has coming up, as well as our 2019 release schedule to see what other movies are hitting the silver screen later this year.
