It looks as though another ‘This Is Us’ cast member may be joining David F. Sandberg’s ‘Shazam!’ Word has it that Ron Cephas Jones, who portrays William Hill on NBC’s hit drama is in final talks to portray the ancient wizard that grants young Billy Batson (Asher Angel) the power to transform into an adult superhero called Shazam (Zachary Levi). Young Faithe Herman, who portrays Annie Pearson on ‘This Is Us’ has already been cast as Darla Dudley in ‘Shazam!’
The cast also includes Mark Strong as the villain Doctor Thaddeus Bodog Sivana, Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddie Freeman, Grace Fulton as Mary Bromfeld, Cooper Andrews as Victor Vasquez, Ian Chen as Eugene Choi, Jovan Armand as Pedro Peña and David J. MacNeil as Mr. Bryer. The film is expected to begin production soon for a 2019 release date.
In addition to ‘This Is Us’, he had recurring roles on the series ‘The Get Down’, ‘Mr. Robot’ and another comic book project, ‘Luke Cage’. He has appeared in classic works like ‘Of Mice and Men’ and ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ and in films like ‘He Got Game’, ‘Across the Universe’ and ‘Half Nelson’.
In the classic comics, the Wizard’s name was Shazam, which was an acronym for Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury, the ancient gods and heroes that bestowed their gifts unto a champion, in this case Billy Batson. But in recent years, DC has decided that the costumed hero himself would go by Shazam (to differentiate him from Marvel Comics’ character of the same name) and thus the Wizard is simply referred to as… well “the Wizard.”
With production set to begin, check back for more updates as we received them!
Directed by David F. Sandberg, ‘Shazam!’ stars Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Mark Strong, Jack Dylan Grazer, Grace Fulton, Faithe Herman, Cooper Andrews, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand and David J. MacNeil and strikes theaters on April 5, 2019.
Source: Comic Book Movie
