Zachary Levi Pitches New Plot for Shazam! in the New DCU

"Nothing is constant in this world except change." This quote is currently being materialized in the new DC universe. Since DC Studios arrived under its new management, no project and no actor have been guaranteed safe. Shazam! Fury of the Gods is slated to hit theaters next month, and it may be Zachary Levi's last adventure as The World's Mightiest Mortal. With that, the actor came up with something that could save his character’s future.

James Gunn and Peter Safran have drawn up a 10-year plan for the DCU, and the slate of projects in the first chapter was announced last month, with Superman: Legacy commencing the new DCU. In a recent interview with Fandango, Levi pitched an idea that could fit the narrative of his character in the brand-new universe.

“With our particular franchise, it's been very difficult for me to wrap my head around what would be the move. Partly because all the kids are growing like weeds, so I don't even know how that applies to the dynamic of what the movie's going to be. I've never seen a superhero zombie movie. Genuinely, I would love to kill zombies, and I think it would be really fun to do Shazam 3. Not an undead Shazam, but rather we're having to fight off like hordes of the undead.” explained Levi.

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We have yet to see a zombie narrative in superhero franchises, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible, especially since right now apocalyptic stories are thriving, for instance, The Walking Dead or, more recently, The Last of Us; it’s indeed becoming a saga of its own. Although Levi might have hundreds of DCU fans disagreeing with him, who wants superheroes fighting off zombies when they can't fight another cosmic villain?

Ahead of the second film’s release, Levi also recently discussed how this sequel and his character are the MCU’s Deadpool DCU counterparts. “I love that we get to be the most subversive of all the DC characters, almost like the Deadpool of DC," he said to SFX Magazine. “Deadpool gets to sit outside of it and comment on it all and have fun with it all – obviously in a more R-rated, mature way. We do the same thing, just a little more family-friendly!”

The sequel to the 2019 film will see the return of Levi's superhero Billy Batson. The Shazam! Fury of the Gods will follow Billy and his family as they face new challenges and powerful villains, in the form of Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren, two of the great additions to this new installment, along with Rachel Zegler.

The film will feature the returns of Asher Angel as the titular hero, Jack Dylan Grazer and Adam Brody as Freddy, Faithe Herman and Meagan Good as Darla, Ian Chen and Ross Butler as Eugene, Grace Fulton as Maria, Jovan Arman, and D.J. Chair as Pedro, Marta Milans, and Cooper Andrews.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods premieres in theaters on March 17, 2023.