So with end of the SDCC, we have our first official “Shazam” trailer. Count me among those kind of relieved. I was among those who was somewhat skeptical with the casting of Zachary Levi to play Captain Mar…excuse me, I meant “Shazam.” You have to understand, I’m a child of the 70’s whose first introduction to “Shazam/Captain Marvel” was from the old CBS TV show: “The Shazam!/Isis Hour.” In fact, I pretty much realized my future wife was cool when she admitted to being a huge fan of “Isis.” To this day I think she still believes if she puts on her Egyptian style necklace and bracelets and spins around she “might” turn into “Mighty Isis.” Never give up the dream, Dear. But I digress…
In the interest of full disclosure, I freely admit I am a huge fan of Zachary Levi. From my introduction to him in NBC’s “Chuck” I was hooked on the nerd turned super spy. The fact that he got to hang around Yvonne Strahovski didn’t hurt. After “Chuck” finished I followed his career cursorily and got a chance to see him as the Asgardian hero Fandral in “Thor: The Dark World” and his ever so brief appearance in “Thor: Ragnarok.” That was a “Helava”short time in front of the camera. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
You would think that by playing some of these heroic figures the idea of him playing “Shazam”shouldn’t be such a stretch for my mind to wrap around. I knew he could beef himself up for the role as other actors have done. That wouldn’t be an issue. I couldn’t pin it down. When I looked at Zachary…I saw…”Chuck.” That’s not a knock on the actor. If anything, it’s a measure of the work he put in on the show. So here I was…waiting for the first trailer, hoping to be proven wrong.
When it dropped, I could finally see the reason they cast Mr. Levi. As proven by the aforementioned “Chuck,” no one can pull off the combination of hero with child-like wonder like he can. The trailer emphasized this as Shazam/Billy Batson tries to come to grips with his new powers. It’s kind of like “Big” on steroids. By going this direction, they have steered this into a much lighter and perhaps more fun movie than past DC films and found a vehicle that fits Zachary Levi’s skill set. I realize this is based solely on the trailer (not that trailers have ever misled anyone) and by final cuts it could be an entirely different film. However at first look, I am encouraged. Just think, I only have until April 5th, 2019 to see if I’m wrong.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
