With the release of Shazam! The fury of the gods very close, Zachary Levi has spoken of his place in the DCEU and how his character shares similarities with Deadpool.
In Shazam! Fury of Gods actor Zachary Levi reprises the role of Shazam along with Asher Angel, who plays the superhero’s teenage alter ego. Levi recently sat down with SFX Magazine to talk about his second appearance as the adorable superhero and explain why this could be DC’s answer to Deadpool.
“I love that we can be the most incendiary of all DC characters, almost like DC’s Deadpool,” Levi commented, according to GamesRadar. “Deadpool sits on the fringes of it all, he comments on it and has fun with it, obviously in a more mature, R-rated way. We do the same, but a little more familiar!“.
Levi expressed his appreciation for being able to play “one of the most interesting and funniest characters in the world of comics”. She talked about how much fun she had playing Shazam and trying to capture the duality of the role in her portrayal of the muscular superhero.
“Most of the heroes are adults, mature, melancholic and all that,” he said. “Very few manage to balance that with the fact that They’re kids and they’re still learning to drive, not to mention being superheroes.. That paradox creates a very fun, interesting and enjoyable playing field.”
Director David F. Sandberg is back behind the camera for the sequel, with a script by Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan. The film is produced by Peter Safran, the new co-CEO of DC Films along with James Gunn, who is helping start a new era in DC storytelling.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is going to be a “special part of the DCEU going forward”, so you might want to pay special attention when the sequel hits theaters on March 17, 2023.