Warner Bros. releases Shazam! synopsis as production officially kicks off

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

We know that principal photography on Warner Bros.' SHAZAM! kicked off last week thanks to Instagram posts from director David F. Sandberg (ANNABELLE: CREATION) and star Zachary Levi (Chuck), but now the studio has made the whole thing legit by officially announcing the production as well as revealing a synopsis for the film. Let's check it out.

We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out.  In Billy Batson’s (Angel) case, by shouting out one word—SHAZAM!—this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam (Levi), courtesy of an ancient wizard.  Still a kid at heart—inside a ripped, godlike body—Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them!  Can he fly?  Does he have X-ray vision?  Can he shoot lightning out of his hands?  Can he skip his social studies test?  Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of a child.  But he’ll need to master these powers quickly in order to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Strong).

The synopsis seems to be another clue that SHAZAM! will be quite different from the DCEU films which have come before it, at least when it comes to tone, which comes across as much more comedic than anything we've seen so far. Zachary Levi will star as Shazam, with Asher Angel (Andi Mack) playing Billy Batson, and Mark Strong (KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE) as super-villain Dr. Thaddeus Sivana. SHAZAM! also stars Jack Dylan Grazer (IT) as Billy’s best friend and ultimate superhero enthusiast, Freddy, part of the foster family that includes Mary, played by Grace Fulton (ANNABELLE: CREATION), Darla, played by Faithe Herman (This is Us), Eugene, played by Ian Chen (Fresh Off the Boat), and Pedro, played by Jovan Armand (Hawaii Five-O). Cooper Andrews (The Walking Dead) and Marta Milans (Killer Women) also star in the film as foster parents Victor and Rosa Vasquez, with Ron Cephas Jones (This is Us) playing the Wizard.

As for who else might appear in the film (get your salt shakers ready), it's also been rumoured that Superman (Henry Cavill) might turn up. Billy Batson will reportedly see the Man of Steel as an inspirational figure, which gives him a basis for how to do the whole superhero thing when he finds himself transformed into one. The report also states that Dwayne Johnson was apparently wanting Superman to appear in his BLACK ADAM film, but that Warner Bros. didn't want to wait that long until the next Superman appearance, and a brief turn in SHAZAM! would certainly keep the character in the minds of audiences. Again, grain of salt.

SHAZAM! is set for an April 5, 2019 release.