Shazam has already made a few strides with its casting- well, one stride, really, in locking in Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson to play the film's vilain, Black Adam. But oddly enough, everything we know about Shazam so far has been focused on the villain, not the hero. Actual information about Shazam- who will play him, what his powers will look like- is practically nonexistent.
Until now, because Johnson is speaking out about his superhero counterpart in the upcoming DC Comics film, revealing information that's brand new. According to MTV, here's what the actor-turned-wrestler said about the presence of Billy Batson and his alter ego, Shazam.
"I'm not quite too sure yet what we will do," explained Johnson. "There's a lot of opportunity, with technology, maybe do a cool face replacement like they did in 'Captain America.' Maybe cast two separate actors, I'm not quite too sure."
In DC Comics lore, Billy Batson is an ordinary orphan boy who stumbles upon a magical wizard, Shazam, who grants him the power to turn into the superpowered being Captain Marvel (or, as he's known once Marvel Comics debuted their own Captain Marvel... Shazam). Johnson's character, Black Adam, is an evil inverse of Billy Batson- an ancient Egyptian slave given the same powers, but using them for nefarious purposes.
Johnson had a few more details about Shazam's casting to share- namely, that the casting process isn't complete, and he can't talk about it.
"I can't wait to share more casting news by the way. No, we haven't picked a Shazam yet, and we have been working on the script. Half the scripts [have] already come in. Fantastic, very excited about it. And what I'm really excited about is - because, again, I've lived with this character, and this opportunity for almost 10 years now, so it's like, in my DNA! I'm like a little kid, and it's the opportunity to create his journey, but that journey has to start out properly."
"And starting off properly is him not being a hero," Johnson continued. "That's got to be earned, so he starts off as a slave. And he's pissed off, and people are going to pay. But eventually down the line he'll become an anti-hero."
Shazam will premiere in 2019.
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