Zachary Levi has opened up about being cast as the lead in Levi will play Shazam in DC's film. For the past few years, virtually nothing has been known about the movie save Dwayne Johnson's potential involvement as the villainous Black Adam. When Johnson and Black Adam instead landed their own movie earlier this year, things went quiet on the Shazam! front.

That all changed this summer, however, when Lights Out director David F. Sandberg was brought aboard to helm the movie. Despite his horror pedigree, and the similar work of the Annabelle: Creation cinematographer and production designer who will be ing him, hopes are high for what Sandberg can bring to the film. He's been regularly teasing fans on social media, establishing the lighter tone of Shazam! with fake plot info. Now that Levi is on board and shooting is just a few months away from starting, fans should be hearing a lot more about the movie soon.

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Following last night's big casting news, Zachary Levi posted to his Instagram to react to his new role in Shazam! and the DC cinematic universe. He also chose the occasion to spotlight one of today's most prolific fan artists.

Honored and greatly humbled to be a part of the #dcuniverse by bringing the original Captain Marvel to life. I am beside myself with gratitude, not only for this opportunity, but also the incredible outpouring of love and from so many of you out there in the world. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be in the gym for the rest of forever. ? (amazingly cool art courtesy of @bosslogic) #Shazam A post shared by Zac Levi (@zacharylevi) on

Levi naturally seems over the moon about the casting. Saying he's both "honored and greatly humbled" to DC, he also makes a quick mention of the original Captain Marvel. Fans will know the long and complicated history of Captain Marvel/Shazam, but it's interesting to see Levi himself call out the connection. Obviously, the film won't be using the hero's original name, but clearly Levi has done his homework.

This is accompanied by Boss Logic's concept art for Levi as Shazam. Though the artist's style remains divisive, his steady output means he's often the go-to artist when casting news breaks. Regardless, it's a big deal for someone like Levi to promote an artist's work, let alone in their big casting reaction.

It's also not clear if Levi's note about ing the DC Universe is merely due to Shazam's comic origins or if this is further proof that Shazam! will exist in the erstwhile DCEU. We've heard for a while now that DC will be creating separate continuities for some stories - as is the case for recent audition tapes for Shazam! seem to indicate Superman and Batman exist in the film's world. We'll have to wait a bit longer to discover the truth, but with Shazam! filming soon more news should be right around the corner.

NEXT: Zachary Levi is Already in Training for Shazam!

Source: Zachary Levi