Amongst wild speculation from fans, Warner Bros. And DC confirmed that the upcoming superhero movie “Shazam” will hit theatres on the 19th of April 2019. This announcement comes smack dab in the middle of numerous scheduling and personnel conflicts in the DCEU movies. Despite the movie’s release being more than a year away, we already have quite a bit of information on the production and cast of the film.
To begin with, the movie will star Asher Angel(who is most well known for starring in a Disney Channel series called Andi Mack) as Billy Batson, a boy who turns into Shazam when he says the name. Jack Dylan Grazer, who perviously played Eddie in the 2017 movie IT, is cast as Batson’s best friend Freddy.
Zachary Levi who played Fandral in the Thor movies will assume the role of the Superhero and has reportedly already begin training for the same. While nothing is known about who the villain is, it has been speculated that Mark Strong will assume the character.
The name Shazam itself comes from various abilities that Billy Batson gains from Greek and Roman characters. S for the Wisdom of Solomon; H for the Strength of Hercules; A for the Stamina of Atlas; Z for the Power of Zeus; A for the Courage of Achilles, and M for the Speed of Mercury. However all rights to the character were bought by DC in 1971 and he was renamed to Shazam. The character has since spawned an animated show in 1981.
David F. Sandberg will take over the Director’s chair for Shazam. Having helmed movies like Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation in the past, Sandberg will be working on a script developed by Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke. The project will be produced by Peter Safran.
Shazam will follow Aquaman which is slated for release towards the end of this year and according the Sandberg, will be a lighthearted movie, a different direction from the Gray, gloomy tone most DCEU movies are known to have.
