New Shazam! Footage & Featurette Reveal a Truly Happy Superhero
Recently, Warner Bros. invited some assorted journalists to have a peek at some extended footage of Shazam! The good news? Those outlets are reporting that, from what they’ve seen, the film appears to be as genuinely fun-loving and joyous as one would hope. The reason one would hope for such a tone is that director David F. Sandberg’s Shazam! is the story of a boy-turned-superhero (played by Zachary Levi), which means the tone should be lighter and fun, lacking any of the darkness that was such a hallmark of the early DCEU films like The Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman. As we wrote back on January 24, Shazam! is primed to be the most cheerful comic book movie of modern times. Even if his enemies are not messing around.
The footage that outlets like Collider and /Film saw opened with opened with a younger version of foster kid Billy Batson (Asher Angel) and his friend Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer) in their school cafeteria, having a debate over what the best superhero powers are—invisibility versus flight. Freddy maintains that flight is the stuff of superheroes, whereas invisibility is…for creeps. These outlets confirm that Freddy is a major superhero fan, specifically those in the DCEU, and no doubt his deep knowledge of DC canon, from Superman to Wonder Woman to Batman, will be used to comedic effect throughout.
This scene is followed by the origin moment when Billy goes from being a regular kid to a superhero. It’s being reported that Sandberg goes all in on the mystical elements of Shazam! that are present in the comics, with Djimon Hounsou’s Wizard providing Billy with the story behind his newfound powers (which are derived from The Rock of Eternity). All Billy has to do to harness the power is to say the Wizard’s name—”Shazam!” Next thing he knows, he’s a full-grown man back on the Philadelphia subway, in a pair of tights and a cape. Not used to being tall, his immediately smashes his head on the way off the train.
If you want to know any more, we suggest you read the full stories of the footage Warner Bros. shared. If you’d rather go into the film with a little less knowledge of how things unfold, we’ve still got this new featurette. Join Levi, Angel, and Grazer as they take you behind the scenes of the film.
Shazam! shouts its way (with joy) into theaters on April 5.
Featured image: (L-r) JACK DYLAN GRAZER as Freddy Freeman and ZACHARY LEVI as Shazam in New Line Cinema’s action adventure “SHAZAM!,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Steve Wilkie/ & (c) DC Comics
