Zachary Levi Still Shocked He Got Shazam! Role, Thought It Was A John Cena Thing
Shazam! star Zachary Levi still can't believe he got the role as DC's magical hero – even as he works on his second film in the series, Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Levi has already completed shooting Fury of the Gods, and was taking a minute to reflect on his success in the superhero genre with The Late Late Show host James Corden. It's clear in the interview that Levi is still very humble about his role as Shazam – to the point that he never, ever, believed it would be a role that went to anyone except John Cena!
"I'm still shocked I got the job, honestly," Levi told Corden. "I know that The Rock was playing Black Adam – who in the comic book is basically like the twin of Shazam – like the Bizarro version. And I was like, 'I'm not getting a shot. No. I am not the twin of The Rock; I thought this was a John Cena thing. But fortunately, I was just an adult that never grew up inside, and so they thought I was their man. And I'm really hoping they don't change their mind after the sequel."
There's a quiet part that Levi sort of says out loud there at the end: while nothing has been confirmed yet, DC fans have expected the release of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's Black Adam movie (July 2022) and Shazam! Fury of the Gods (June 2023) to basically be the stage-setting chapters for the long-awaited Shazam! vs. Black Adam event film, which could drag more heroes and villains from the DC Movie Universe (Henry Cavill's Superman!) into the fray, as well. Levi's joke about being Rock's "twin" and why they might decide to replace as Shazam, all suggest that DC and Warner Bros. may be further along in planning Shazam and Black Adam's meet-up than we think...
As for the joke about Cena: while Zachary Levi was being humorous about his own physicality compared to The Rock and Cena, he's ironically seeing things backward. Early on during the casting stages for Shazam!, Cena was a fan-favorite pick for the role, due to his boyishly earnest comedic persona, which is a stark contrast to his hulking body. In short: it seemed to many fans that Cena had that "adult that never grew up" quality that could've been hilarious as he pretended to be a child in a superman's body. But to be fair, that would've been a much more satirical and winking take on Shazam than the horror/adventure/family drama angle director David F. Sandberg went with.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods will be in theaters on June 2, 2023.