Zachary Levi Says ‘Shazam!’ Is ‘Big’ Meets ‘Superman’

Tom Hanks had Zoltar, but Zachary Levi has Shazam!

The star of Disney’s Tangled and NBC’s fan-favorite series Chuck recently opened up about entering the DC cinematic universe as the hero formerly known as Captain Marvel, comparing the movie to Hanks’ 1988 comedy classic.

“I can’t tell you much, as you can probably imagine, but what I can say is I am just out of my mind excited!” Levi told ET. “I get to do my version of Big, basically. It’s like Superman meets Big, and that’s just so fun. I get to be a superhero that’s excited about being a superhero, and I think that’s refreshing. It’s not glum, and like, ‘Oh, I have to save the world again.’ So I think it’s all really gravy.”

In the old movie, a 13-year-old boy makes a wish to an arcade fortune-telling machine that he wants “to be big,” prompting him to morph into the 30-year-old Hanks overnight. The helped catapult the actor into superstar status in Hollywood, but has become cemented in pop culture as a classic.

So at least now we know what tone director David F. Sandberg is going for in his first superhero movie, which makes a ton of sense. The themes of Big lend itself perfectly to a hero like Shazam!, and with Levi in the lead role you can expect a ton of heart in the performance, alongside Disney star Asher Angel.

Levi also teased a heavy hitter on his wishlist to cameo in the movie, which seems especially possible as Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman becomes the centerpiece of DC Films moving forward.

“I think getting a cameo from anybody would be super cool, but I just think Gal Gadot is so effervescent. She has such a charm,” Levi said.

It will be interesting to see how Sandberg, Angel, and Levi are able to balance the fun and excitement of a story like Big with the bombastic superhero action of Superman. We’ll learn more as production starts to pick up on the new movie.

Shazam! is rumored to be hitting theaters in April 2019.