Shazam! star Zachary Levi has celebrated the fourth anniversary of his casting as the iconic DC superhero on social media. Various stars had been pegged as good picks for the magically-powered hero, but the former Chuck actor was seen as a left-choice for the role when he was announced back in 2017. Of course, once we got to see his DCEU debut in 2019, his hiring was proved to be a stroke of genius, and he became an instant fan favorite.
In response to a Shazam fan account marking the anniversary of his casting, Levi retweeted the reminder and reflected on how much landing this role of a lifetime meant to him. “And my life, was changed, forever,” he shared, along with a trio of celebratory emojis.
We recently learned how exactly he ended up on the radar for this character. Guardians of the Galaxy James Gunn said on Twitter that Levi gave a great audition for Marvel’s Star-Lord back in the day, which he raved about to DC producer Peter Safran, leading Safran to try Levi out for Shazam. Gunn and Levi have since announced they would love to work together on another project.
Levi has just wrapped production on Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the much-anticipated sequel that will bring back Billy Batson and his “Shazamily” for what promises to be an even more high-stakes battle against evil than the first film as they take on two bona fide Greek goddesses, as played by Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu. That’s sadly not getting here until June 2023, but before then we have the Shazam-related Black Adam, starring Dwayne Johnson as the former Captain Marvel’s comic book nemesis, coming in July 2022.
Where does Zachary Levi’s Shazam come in your ranking of the best DCEU heroes? Let us know in the comments.