‘Shazam’ Trailer: Meet Billy Batson’s Arch-Enemy, Dr. Sivana
The Shazam trailer features our first really good look at the film’s bad guy, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, played by Mark Strong. It also has some pretty strong gags (pun intended, not sorry). I like the one where Shazam (played by Zachary Levi) tries to leap a building in a single bound, Superman-style, and fails. I can get behind the idea of a well-meaning, klutzy superhero.
Based on the DC Comics hero, here’s Shazam’s official synopsis:
David F. Sandberg (“Annabelle: Creation”) directs New Line Cinema’s “Shazam!,” the origin story that stars Zachary Levi (TV’s “Chuck”) as the titular DC Super Hero, along with Asher Angel (TV’s “Andi Mack”) as Billy Batson, and Mark Strong (the “Kingsman” movies) in the role of Super-Villain Dr. Thaddeus Sivana. Peter Safran (“Aquaman,” “The Conjuring” and “Annabelle” films) serves as the film’s producer. 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 opens in theaters on April 5.
Gallery — Hilarious Bootleg DVD Covers You Won’t Believe Are Real: