Warner Bros. has announced that Shazam! will get have its full-length big screen release on April 5th, 2019. The Zachary Levi starrer is going to be the next release from DCEU after Aquaman comes out in December this year.
Asher Angel plays the role of Billy Batson and the runaway star from IT; Jack Dylan Grazer is going to play Batson’s best friend, Freddy Freeman. The other members of the cast are Grace Fulton, Ian Chen and Cooper Andrews (The Walking Dead).
Shazam! is being helmed by the horror master David F. Sandberg (Lights Out, Annabelle: Creation), and as Comicbook.com quoted Zachary Levi as saying that he is excited to play “a teenager in a super hero’s body” on the big screen. Levi said that he is working on his physique for the movie and has increased his daily calories intake to almost 4000 calories a day.
Shazam’s main enemy, Black Adam was supposed to be portrayed by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, however, the actor has left the project and decided to work on creating his own solo film based on the ancient Egyptian supervillain.
“I think they’ve got a great plan over there with him and I wish those guys the best of luck,” Johnson reportedly told Comicbook.com. “We had to split the idea because the obvious idea was Black Adam and Shazam. So we split it. Those guys are gonna do great with it,” he elaborated.
The magically blessed Shazam! had debuted in DC Comics way back in 1939 and he was originally called Captain Marvel. He was a creation of C.C. Beck and Bill Parker, who depicted the alter ego of Billy Batson to be a superhero who could summon the powers of six gods by merely screaming “Shazam!”
Beyond Aquaman and Shazam! DC endeavors to make a Wonder Woman sequel which will see the return of actress Gal Gadot and director Patty Jenkins. The other DC films in the works include Flashpoint, Green Lantern Corps, and The Batman. However, after the declaration of Shazam!’s cinematic release, a previously listed untitled film has been removed from DC’s cinematic schedule (July 27, 2018).
