‘Thor’ actor Zachary Levi to play Shazam in new DC film (Report)

Thor actor Zachary Levi has been cast as the lead character in forthcoming DC movie Shazam!

Levi appeared as Fandral in the most recent two films in the Marvel franchise, including Thor: Ragnarok. He has also starred in TV series Chuck and Tangled.

As Movieweb reports, Shazam! has been in development for a while and, while Levi’s casting has been confirmed, there are still holes to be filled in the cast list. Although Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had been courted to play the role of Black Adam, he will not appear in the movie.

Shazam! will be directed by David F. Sandberg (Annabelle: Creation) and will follow Billy Batson, who turns into the titular superhero by saying “shazam”. The film is currently set for release on April 5, 2019.

Fan artist BossLogic, meanwhile, has shared a first look at what Levi as Shazam could look like. You can see his interpretation below.

Meanwhile, Guardians Of The Galaxy director James Gunn has asked Marvel and DC fans to stop fighting.

He posted a thread on his Twitter page explaining he can’t so much as mention anything related to the DC Extended Universe without fans getting into a war of words about Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice.

“Every time I mention anything DC, no matter what, my feed becomes an endless screaming match about BvS,” he wrote, as The Hollywood Reporter notes. “You guys are never going to convince each other – it’s just a bunch of wasted energy.”