It’s been suggested on a number of occasions now that Henry Cavill’s Superman will make his return to the DC Extended Universe next year with a cameo appearance in Shazam!, while barely a month goes by without some site or another claiming that Warner Bros. is looking at [insert filmmaker of your choice here] for the director’s chair on a Man of Steel sequel.
Well, if Mark Hughes of Forbes is correct, Superman fans hoping to see Kal-El opposite Zachary Levi’s Shazam are going to be disappointed – as are those hoping we get some official news on Man of Steel 2 in the near future.
“Superman, I can tell you as of three to four weeks ago, last time I checked in, there is not movement on Superman,” claims Hughes. “It’s not currently sitting on the table as a project that they’re looking at moving forward on and there’s no expectation of imminent movement on a Superman project… that’s the situation.”
“I know for now it didn’t work out getting Superman into Shazam!, apparently,” Hughes continued. “Maybe that will change and they’ll be able to film something. There’s still a lot of time before it comes out. As of right now, there’s no Superman in Shazam! and there’s no movement on a Superman solo movie.”
Recent reports have claimed that Birds of Prey, The Batman, The Flash and Black Adam are the next movies gearing up to go into production next year at DC Films, so if that is accurate and assuming Superman doesn’t pop up in Shazam! (or make a surprise appearance in Aquaman), it would seem it could be 2021 at the earliest before Cavill’s Man of Steel next takes flight.
We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s (Asher Angel) case, by shouting out one word—SHAZAM!—this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam (Zachary 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 (Mark Strong).”
Shazam will see Zachary Levi starring as the titular superhero, with Asher Angel as his young alter-ego Billy Batson, Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy Freeman, Ian Chen as Eugene Choi, Jovan Armand as Pedro Peña, Grace Fulton as Mary Marvel, Cooper Andrews as Victor Vasquez, Faithe Herman as Darla Dudley, Mark Strong as Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, Djimon Hounsou as the Wizard, Adam Brody as Freddie Freeman, Ross Butler as Eugene Choi, D. J. Cotrona as Pedro Pena, Meagan Good as Darla Dudley, and Michelle Borth as Mary Bromfield. The film is set for release on April 5th 2019.
Originally published August 4, 2018. Updated August 9, 2018.
