SHAZAM!’s first trailer promises to lighten the DCEU up with its family-friendly tone and humor. The film sees a young orphan boy Billy Batson (Asher Angel) meeting an ancient wizard (Djimon Hounsou) who is given the powers to transform into a muscular thundering adult hero (Zachary Levi) who has who has the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury, when he shouts the words Shazam.
Warner Bros latest DC film looks like a huge departure from the dark and brooding DCEU films of the past. It has a very playful tone, kid-friendly comedy, and plenty of charm. It’s kind of hard to divert your eyes away from something that could potentially be a lot of fun.
As far as the DCEU knows, they will certainly need it. See, Billy is a skeptical boy who must learn what it takes to be a hero. And while he is reluctant to take on that role, he will have an easier time to get acquainted with his abilities and powers thanks to the help of Freddie Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer).
Directed by David Sandberg, Shazam! looks like a blend of Big with a superhero feel. Watching Levi will play an inexperienced hero who is learning how to be a hero while still acting like a kid will be a lot of fun to see on the big screen. And I personally cannot’ wait to see more of it.
But it won’t be all fun and games as Shazam fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Strong).
SHAZAM! opens in theaters on April 5, 2019.
Here is the synopsis for Shazam!:
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 version 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 (Strong).
