Of all of Warner Bros.' upcoming DC projects, I'm perhaps the most anxious to get a look at SHAZAM!, if only to see what type of film they're going to deliver. Given how dark and gritty most of the DC Universe has been, SHAZAM! is certainly standing out as quite different. How far into the realm of comedy will they go? Well, with San Diego Comic-Con quickly approaching (JoBlo will be attending), I'd imagine that we'll find out something about that quite soon.
We got our first official look at Zachary Levi as Shazam last week, and now Entertainment Weekly has another glimpse at the costumed hero looking positively glowing alongside his friend Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer).
Director David F. Sandberg said that he "wanted to keep the shorter cape as a throwback to the original because that’s something that sets him apart from Superman or Batman. It makes him feel a bit more Golden Age superhero, which is the vibe I’m going for." Sounds good to me. The film finds Billy Batson (Asher Angel) being assigned to a new foster home where he befriends comic-book superfan Freddy (Grazer), but after Billy's subway ride is interrupted by a mysterious Wizard (Djimon Hounsou) who has been searching for ages to find the right successor to inherit his powers. He reveals that Billy has been selected to gain an assortment of abilities, and all it takes is for Billy to say “SHAZAM!”
The official synopsis for SHAZAM!:
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).
SHAZAM! is slated for a April 5, 2019 release.