New ‘Shazam!’ Photos Reveal Dr. Sivana’s Powers

DC’s Shazam! movie is seeing its marketing campaign starting to ramp up, and along with a new TV spot for the film, we have a new set of photos that will be particularly interesting for fans. Instead of delivering new looks at Zachary Levi’s Shazam, we also get to see new looks at Mark Strong’s villain character, Dr. Sivana – and some of the mysterious powers he will have in this DCEU version of the story.

Take a look at the new photos below – but be WARNED, they are a little bit SPOILERY:

So what’s the potential SPOILER in these two photos? Look no further than the glowing tree-shaped object framed behind Dr. Sivana – which discerning DC fans have already identified as the Wizard Shazam’s staff!

We already had hints that this DCEU version of Sivana would have his own set of mystical powers, as director David F. Sandberg revealed in an earlier interview:

“Mark Strong loves being a bad guy. And it’s not just him, really, it’s … something else … that lent him his powers … he can do some things that Shazam can’t. The danger in some films is the bad guy has the same powers as the good guy. [Sivana] has an extra thing, extra dynamic, that takes care of that….”

In that same article, we also learned something significant about the DCEU version of Sivana’s origin story, which has a significantly big change to the comics in one important area:

“…In Shazam!, 14-year-old orphan Batson is selected by a 3,000-year-old Wizard to inherit his powers due to his pure heart. The film’s version of Sivana also encountered The Wizard as a kid — but he was rejected to receive his powers. Ever since then, Sivana has spent his life searching for a way to gain the abilities that Billy now possesses in a desire to live up to the expectations of a domineering father.”

Clearly, the film’s version of Thaddeus Sivana is more than just a mad scientist than his classic comic book counterpart. Mark Strong‘s Sivana seems to lean a lot closer to the version of DC’s “New 52” reboot in 2011: In that retconned origin, Sivana was an industrialist who was obsessed with magic as a cure for his family’s fatal disease. Ironically, in the comics, it was the tomb of Black Adam that Sivana was searching for – one has wonder if that would still be the case in the movie version, if Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam was still connected to it.

What do you think: is a magically powered Dr. Sivana sound exciting to you? Or is it too much of another ‘villain is the heroes reflection’ comic book movie cliche? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Next up for DC is Aquaman, which lands in theaters on December 21st. Shazam! is slated to hit theaters on April 5, 2019, while Wonder Woman 2 hits theaters on November 1, 2019.