Almost as soon as a superhero movie gets announced, the prospect of finding out what Hollywood star or unknown commodity will get the chance to become said hero or villain. While we know Brie Larson is playing Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel for her eponymous film, we didn’t know who would play the DC Comics version of the character in the proposed Shazam! movie, one of the many DC movies in development. The nearest we had is the assertion Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson would be playing Black Adam in a solo film. Now however, THR has the news that former Chuck star Zachary Levi has been cast as the lead in Shazam!.
Levi starred in the NBC series Chuck from 2007-2012 and also provided the voice of Flynn in the 2010 Disney animated film Tangled which is a million times better than Frozen despite what every child says. While Levi is no stranger to the superhero film landscape–he portrayed Fandral, one of the Asgardian Warriors Three, in 2013’s Thor: The Dark World. This is easily the most high-profile role in Levi’s career. Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation director David F. Sandberg is lined up to direct the project under Warner Bros’ New Line banner which itself is a fairly bold move for a character aimed generally at younger readers.
Shazam! is one of the oldest titles in superhero comics, debuting as part of Fawcett Comics in 1939 before the title and character were acquired by DC Comics in 1972. In the comics, Billy Batson is a child who can become an adult superhero by uttering the word “Shazam!”—a magic word consisting of the initials of many mythical heroes (Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury), the powers of whom all get mixed to create Captain Marvel. Whether the movie Shazam! will include the name “Captain Marvel” at all or if they’ll drop it because of Marvel Studios’ film is yet to be determined.
What do you think about Zachary Levi playing Captain Marvel in Shazam!? Let us know in the comments below!
Image:
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist and an avowed DC Comics fanboy. Follow him on Twitter!
More for you comics lovers!
- How Wonder Woman‘s ending might retcon Batman v Superman!
- Hellboy unleashes his inner demon in latest Injustice 2 trailer!
- The cast of the latest Thor movie tries to define Ragnarok!
