'Shazam!' Director Reveals One Way Billy Won't Be like His New 52 Counterpart

The upcoming Shazam! solo movie is taking shape, but the film's director just revealed one thing that won't be in the film.

Following the casting of two more Shazam Family members, some fans began to speculate how heavily Billy Batson's New 52 portrayal would affect the film. But according to David F. Sandberg, one thing from the New 52 won't bleed over into the film - Billy being "a huge dickhead."

He's not a huge dickhead.

— David F. Sandberg (@ponysmasher) December 12, 2017

As fans will remember, the New 52 run of Shazam - from Geoff Johns and Gary Frank - provided a new sort of twist on Billy Batson's origin. Primarily, it did so by making him a pretty awful foster kid. New 52 Billy responded negatively to the death of his parents and his time in foster care, and was ultimately brought on a sort of "hero's journey" of redemption through his days as Shazam.

In a way, fans can expect that some of Billy's New 52 canon will come into Shazam!, especially with Johns now serving as DC's CEO and helping oversee the DCEU's films. But still, some have responded positively to Sandberg's Twitter revelation, as it mirrors the sort of "Big with super powers" comparison that the film has already received.

Sandberg's version of Billy Batson will be portrayed by Asher Angel, while his adult Shazam persona will be played by Zachary Levi. Other cast members will include Mark Strong, Grace Fulton, Jack Dylan Grazer, Ian Chen, and Jovan Armand. As Sandberg recently hinted on Instagram, there are plenty more Shazam! casting announcements to come.

Justice League is now in theaters; Aquaman arrives on December 21, 2018; Shazam! on April 5, 2019; Wonder Woman 2 on November 1st, 2019; Cyborg on April 3, 2020; and Green Lantern Corps on July 24, 2020.