Asher Angel Shares ‘Shazam!’ Set Photo

The production for DC Films next major release after Aquaman is starting to pick up steam, and the hero formerly known as Captain Marvel is getting ready for his/their closeup.

Actor Asher Angel posted a photo to his Instagram story of a photoshoot on a soundstage, even going so far as to hashtag the photo “Shazam” with TWO lightning bolt emojis.

Check out Angel’s photograph below:

The photo looks like it could be from a promotional shoot, meaning we might not have to wait long before we get our first look at the stars sharing the lead role — and maybe even the reveal of the costume!

Angel, of course, is playing the younger part of the Shazam! equation. As the young Billy Batson, he’ll eventually discover the wizard of the same name who grants him the powers, the codeword, and the name that will change him into, er, um, Shazam!

But that bigger, older, and more muscly version will be played by Zachary Levi, the comic-con icon who was conveniently killed off from his role in the MCU in Thor: Ragnarok.

Shazam! will be the first solo superhero film in the universe that has nothing to do with Justice League, though at this point all signs point to it being a part of the shared universe first established in Man of Steel.

Directed by Annabelle: Creation’s David F. Sandberg, Shazam! has long been kicked around in development, with the first major announcement for the character coming when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said he was going to be the villainous Black Adam.

That caused some shuffling to the plan, as now Black Adam will be getting his own solo movie as well before they bring the the two together to clash on screen, presumably in Shazam! 2! Lightning! Boogaloo!

While the movie will star Captain Marvel, it won’t be called Captain Marvel — that all stems out of the trademark and copyright war between DC Comics and rival Marvel Comics. Marvel has long held the rights to create media with the title “Captain Marvel,” hence Marvel Studios’ own movie with that name.

DC, however, has long published comics like “The ______ of Shazam!” while featuring their own character Captain Marvel, but recently relented and changed his name to Shazam!

Both Captain Marvel and Shazam! are scheduled for release in 2019, with the DC Films production rumored to hit theaters in April.