Zachary Levi Would Love to Play Deadpool If Ryan Reynolds Wasn’t

The latest DC Extended Universe film, Shazam!, hit theaters last month, and the film’s star, Zachary Levi, is still making appearances and talking about his role in the franchise. Over the weekend, the actor did a panel at MegaCon in Orlando and answered tons of fan questions about his time with both DC and Marvel. A lot of hypotheticals came up from the audience during the Q&A, including the actor’s dream villain role.

“You’ve played a hero character in both the Marvel and DC Universe,” a fan pointed out.

“Go on!,” Levi replied with a hilarious fake-brag voice.

“If you could play a villain character in each universe,” the fan continued, “who would you want to play?”

“I’ve said may times before that Deadpool was my favorite villain in the Marvel universe,” Levi explained. “He’s now an anti-hero, I understand that, but not when I found him. He was definitely a villain back then, and I would love to play Deadpool. Except Ryan’s been doing that very, very astutely,” he added.

While it’s unlikely Levi will ever get the chance to take over the role Ryan Reynolds has perfected, it’s still fun to imagine. Besides, the actor will surly get more chances to play Shazam.

During the panel, Levi also revealed that he had more fun working for DC than Marvel.

Currently, Shazam! is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with an impressive 90% rating. Comicbook.com’s Brandon Davis praised the film in his spoiler-free review, saying the film is unlike most of the superhero movies that have been released in recent years.

Shazam! stars Zachary Levi in the titular role with Asher Angel playing his younger counterpart, Billy Batson. The film also features Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy Freeman, Mark Strong as the villainous Dr. Sivana, Djimon Hounsou as The Wizard, along with Cooper Andrews, Marta Milans, Ian Choi, Faithe Herman, Jovan Armand, and Grace Fulton.

Shazam! will be released on DVD and blu-ray on July 16th. Other upcoming DC films include Joker on October 10th, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, and Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020.