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Zachary Levi Almost Didn't Audition for Shazam! Plus a Sneak Peak on the Aquaman Home Release

Bad casting can absolutely ruin a movie but good casting, the kind of casting that is one in a million and the person seemed destined to wear that costume, those types of things matter–even more so when you're talking about superheroes. These are characters that have been alive on the page for decades and defined an entire generation of fans. If you get it wrong, they will let you know. The right person doesn't always want the role though. Infamously, Chris Evans didn't want to be Captain America even though someone should probably just give him the title for real at the moment. Gal Gadot, despite early pushback from fans for being "too skinny", proved that she is a Goddess come to life in Wonder Woman.

DC is looking to do that again with Shazam! though on a different level. Zachary Levi plays the adult version of the character but he reportedly wasn't too keen on the role initially. According to producer Peter Safran, via ComicBook.com, Levi hesitated to even send in an audition for the role.

"It was a very easy casting decision once we saw his tape but it is worth noting that initially 2 months before that we had gone to him and he had passed," Safran explained. "And he just did because he didn't believe that he would ever be cast for that role. So he just said, 'I don't want to run tape for it.'"

Once Levi sent in that tape, Safran and the rest of he the production team knew that they had their guy. He sent it in on a Friday and by Tuesday he was in Los Angelas for a screen test.

"He sent it in on a Friday," Safran said. "He self taped, he was back on the east coast, self taped on his phone. Sent it in and I think by Monday we had him in LA testing and on Tuesday got the role. Zach is this character. Zach is a 14-year-old boy trapped in a super hero's body. And he would acknowledge that, I'm not saying anything he would not say about himself. He's a kid and it was just so perfect when we saw what he did with the audition and he kinda bought that every single day to being Shazam."

That kind of enthusiasm proved to be a good thing. Safran went on to explain that the conditions of the shoot were not easy because of the location and the weather. That didn't matter to Levi who kept up his spirits regardless which just proved how right he was for the role according to Safran.

"It was a very difficult shooting condition," Safran said. "We shot in Toronto, in the winter, night exteriors for weeks on end and he just brought to it an enthusiasm that never waned ever."

Aquaman will be released on digital platforms March 5th, and DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K HUD on March 26th and it was recently announced by the official Aquaman twitter that there would be some sort of sneak peek for Shazam! on that home release.

Considering the timing, a month before the movie comes out, we could expect to see a clip, extended trailer, or some sort of featurette. After the success of Aquaman, DC and Warner Bros are no doubt crossing their fingers and hoping that they can repeat at least of that success this April.

Summary: A boy is given the ability to become an adult superhero in times of need with a single magic word.

Shazam!, directed by David F. Sandberg, stars Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Grace Fulton, Faithe Herman, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Asher Angel, and will be written by Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke. It will be released on April 5th, 2019.

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