In the weeks following James Gunn and Peter Safran’s takeover of DC Films for Warner Brothers, some major moves — or rather, major scrappings — have happened. But, according to Zachary Levi, “Shazam!” is just fine at the moment.
After an unconfirmed tweet made the rounds that Levi was suddenly not going to be playing the hero under the new DC regime, one user tweeted, “I want this not to be true because his Shazam is he [sic] ONE thing in the DCEU I would absolutely throw hands for to protect.” The writer also tagged Levi, saying he is “perfection” in the role.
In response, Levi offered some words of comfort — and advice to take some news from the internet with a grain of salt.
“Oooh, I really wouldn’t go believing everything you see on the internet,” Levi tweeted. “I’m Gucci, Ash. We all Gucci.”
Concerns for the character appear to stem from the fact that Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam, canonically a villain to Shazam, will officially not be part of Gunn and Safran’s first phase of films for DC, and a third Wonder Woman film from Patty Jenkins will not be moving forward.
At this point, no future plans for Shazam have been announced past its upcoming sequel, “Shazam! Fury of the Gods.” The film reunites Billy Batson (Asher Angel) and his family from the first movie, but also brings newcomers in the form of Helen Mirren as Hespera and Lucy Liu as Kalypso, sisters and villainous daughters of the Titan Atlas. “West Side Story” breakout Rachel Zegler, as TheWrap exclusively reported, will also appear in an as-yet-undisclosed role that will be key to the story.
The sequel to New Line and DC Comics’ acclaimed 2019 film “Shazam!,” “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” will continue the story of teenage Billy who, upon reciting the magic word “Shazam!” is struck by the Living Lightning of the gods and transformed into his adult superhero alter ego, Shazam.
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” is set to release on March 17, 2023.
