Zachary Levi Shares First Official Look at Shazam’s Costume

Zachary Levi has revealed his official costume the upcoming DC film, Shazam!. The movie – directed by horror filmmaker David F. Sandberg and based on a script by Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke – stars Levi as the eponymous superhero and Asher Angel as his young counterpart, Billy Batson, with Mark Strong playing the titular villain, Doctor Sivana, and Ron Cephas Jones playing the ancient wizard, Shazam, who gifts Batson his superpowers.

Shazam! started filming in February 2018 and is slated to hit theaters next April. While it’s still quite a ways away from releasing, that doesn’t mean the film’s marketing team can’t at least reveal the first look at the movie, particularly what Levi looks like in costume. Sandberg previously mentioned that if photos of the costume had leaked while they were filming outdoors, then Warner Bros. would release the official look right then and there. Luckily for them, though, no one leaked Levi’s Shazam! costume right away. But now, multiple set photos and videos have leaked since that initial photo, which showcased Levi’s Shazam costume in great deal – and from multiple angles. While it seems pointless to release the first look now, Levi has gone ahead and done so… finally, which means a full reveal isn’t too far behind.

Related: Shazam! Officially Wraps Filming

Zachary Levi posted a photo of himself and what looks like an ad for Shazam! on Instagram today, which gives fans their first real look at David F. Sandberg’s 2019 film, Shazam!. While he’s since deleted the post, you can still check out the image below.

Based on this “first look” as well as what has been leaked so far, Zachary Levi’s Shazam costume clearly takes inspiration from WB’s Justice League: War animated movie (which is based on the Justice League: Origin comic book story), just as Sandberg said it would. Off the bat, the most noticeable similarity is the lightning bolt on Levi’s chest; its shape and color heavily resembles the more recent incarnations of the character, just like Shazam’s cape. Also, Shazam’s bracers are identical to the ones the character wears in the animated movie. Morever, fans may also be able to spot a hidden homage to the classic DC character Tawky Tawny on the clasps for Shazam’s hood (the tigers). While the homage doesn’t mean the character will appear in the movie, it does add a bit of fan service to the design.

Overall, it seems that the costume’s design is quite accurate to the comic book source material and appears to be inspired primarily by Shazam’s New 52 incarnation as well as designs from legendary comic book artist Alex Ross. What’s interesting is that many DCEU costumes appear to take inspiration from Ross’ creations. After all, the official Justice League poster itself was inspired by Ross’ iconic poster, “The Original Seven,” so it makes sense that Warner Bros. would continue that trend with Levi’s Shazam, even though the character isn’t always depicted as a core League member. Now that the “first look” at Shazam! is out, fans should expect to see an official image sooner rather than later and then possibly a teaser trailer later this summer.

More: Shazam!: Every Update You Need to Know