After a year of ups (Wonder Woman) and downs (Justice League), the DC Extended Universe is moving onwards and upwards. James Wan’s Aquaman is already in the can, and now the next superhero instalment has begun production. Shazam! (exclamation mark compulsory) is officially a go, and Warner Bros have revealed the synopsis.
The comic adaptation will follow Billy Batson (played by Disney Channel actor Asher Angel), a teenager who can age himself up into an adult with bonus magical powers, all without the aid of a Zoltar arcade machine.
Here’s the full synopsis: 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 verson 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.
Stepping into the villain role is Mark Strong, while Zachary Levi will play the adult incarnation of the hero. Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation director David F. Sandberg will sit in the director’s chair. Shazam! is pegged for an April 2019 release date, with Wonder Woman 2 coming later that year.
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