Hollywood has found its Shazam! in Zachary Levi. After speculations arose that John Cena and Limitless actor Jake McDorman were being considered for the role, the studios made the announcement about the actor.
The David F Sandberg directorial is yet to announce the remaining cast members of the movie. The lead cast announcement was reported by The Hollywood Reporter. The Wrap's Umberto Gonzalez also revealed that Levi also beat Zane Holtz, Billy Magnussen and Derek Theler for the role.
Also Read: Shazam! audition tapes tease plot spoilers, Justice League connections [SPOILERS]
Shazam! is not the actor's first superhero movie. Levi played Fandral in Thor: The Dark World in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While it is a good news that Shazam! has finally found its lead, Twitter seems be torn into two about the casting.
Reactions from the social media platform indicate that while majority of fans are glad about the casting, there are a reasonable number of people who are disappointed.
"He's playing Billy, right? And then when he says Shazam he turns into John Cena, right?" says a fan who obviously wanted Cena to play the role. "I'm actually rather let down that they picked chuck," tweeted a DC fan. "One of my favorite DC heroes & they got the casting wrong...again," another user wrote.
"Are you kidding me?! This is horrific," said another. "I actually like him.... but for Shazam?!? What the hell people... It pains me to say, but I will probably be skipping this one then," a disappointed fan shared.
However, there were a few who, despite their disappointment, were looking forward to see how Levi would prove he was made for the role. "From Chuck to Thor 2 to Shazam. Zachary Levi gonna need to bulk up if he is gonna take on Dwayne Johsnon. This is gonna be fun to watch," opined a DC follower. "Shazam is meant to be more muscly than superman. This guy has a long way to go to be bigger than Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck," added another.
While no release date has been slated for Shazam!, the production house is eyeing to start filming in February 2018 in Toronto.
