On the Toronto set of Shazam!, director David F. Sandberg said the upcoming DC film will be very standalone, but still exist within the DCEU.
Warner Bros. and DC Films appear to be aiming towards a cinematic universe with less crossover than Marvel Studios. Wonder Woman and Aquaman are two of the most successful DCEU film to date, with little to no connection with the greater DC universe. Of course, the studio also had great success with Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy, which didn’t exist in any cinematic universe. Warner Bros. is also starting a new line of standalone films separate from the DCEU with Joker.
Dwayne Johnson has been cast as Shazam’s nemesis Black Adam since 2014 with New Line Cinema developing a standalone film for the villain. Our very own Executive Editor Nathaniel Brail asked Sandberg on the set of Shazam! if the upcoming film will set up the greater DC universe and Black Adam’s solo film:
“Well, I mean, this movie’s mostly just about introducing Billy Batson and Shazam, and who he is, how he came to be. Yeah, it takes place in this DC world, where all these heroes exist, but in some ways, yeah, it’s both sort of self-contained, while also being a part of something bigger. But yeah, that’s a non-answer.”
Sandberg went on to say audiences won’t have to go into Shazam! having seen previous DCEU films:
“No, in that case, it’s very standalone. Like, you don’t have to have seen any of the other films, because it’s its own contained story really. Yeah, it’s just more the world of it that’s part of it.”
Do you like the direction DC is heading in? Do you think the Black Adam film will ever happen? Comment below!
Directed by David F. Sandberg, Shazam! stars Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Mark Strong, Jack Dylan Grazer, Grace Fulton, Faithe Herman, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Cooper Andrews, Marta Milans, and Ron Cephas. Here is the synopsis:
We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s (Angel) case, by shouting out one word—SHAZAM!—this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam (Levi), courtesy of an ancient wizard. Still a kid at heart—inside a ripped, godlike body—Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them! Can he fly? Does he have X-ray vision? Can he shoot lightning out of his hands? Can he skip his social studies test? Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of a child. But he’ll need to master these powers quickly in order to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Strong).
Shazam! will be released in theaters on April 5, 2019.
Stay tuned to Heroic Hollywood for our exclusive Shazam! set visit coverage!
