shazam

Traditionally in the comics, Captain Marvel (as Shazam was formerly known) was accompanied on his exploits by his twin sister Mary and their friend Freddy Freeman as Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr.  But in the ‘Flashpoint’ and New 52 comics, they were joined by three new characters, also kids who could turn into adult heroes and share the power of ‘Shazam!’– Eugene Choi, Pedro Peña and Darla Dudley.  While each had the same basic powers, each of these additional characters possessed a specialty power, mostly enhanced versions of one of the traditional powers, with one exception.  Eugene’s extra power was technopathy, the ability to manipulate machinery and technology.

We already knew that the kid versions of Freddy, Mary, Eugene, Pedro and Darla were in the movie adaptation of ‘Shazam!’ but four new castings seem to indicate that they will also be adopting their adult superpowered identities.  ‘Shazam” recently added Adam Brody, Ross Butler, D.J. Cotrona and Meagan Good.  Their roles were not disclosed, but just looking at them, it seems pretty obvious.

Adam Brody
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Jack Dylan Grazer
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Adam Brody appears to be playing an older version of Jack Dylan Grazer‘s Freddie Freeman.  For starters, the actors even look alike!  Traditionally, Freddy’s super alter ego was known as Captain Marvel Jr., but that has been discarded in more modern times.  He wears a blue version of the Shazam uniform.  In modern comics, Freddy and his alter ego have blond hair, but it appears the movie is following the more traditional comics and presenting him with black hair.

What’s extra cool about Brody’s casting is that the former ‘O.C.’ actor was originally cast to play another DC superhero, the Wally West version of The Flash in George Miller’s ‘Justice League: Mortal’ a movie that was scrapped just before production was set to begin in 2007.  Looks like Brody is getting a second chance.

Ross Butler
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Ian Chen
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‘Riverdale’ and ’13 Reasons Why’ star Ross Butler looks to be starring as the adult version of Eugene Choi.  The youthful version will be played by ‘Fresh Off the Boat”s Ian Chen.  Eugene is a quiet bookish boy who, as stated, gains the traditional Shazam! powers as an adult plus the ability to control technology with his mind.  His Shazam costume is black/dark gray.

D.J. Cotrona will depict the adult version of Pedro Peña.  ‘The Middle”s Jovan Armand portrays the younger version. As an adult hero, Pedro sports a beard and wears a green costume.

DJ Cotrona
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Jovan Armand
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He has the increased Strength of Hercules and is the buffest member of the Shazam! Family.

In another massive coincidence (or is it?), Cotrona was also cast in ‘Justice League: Mortal’ and would have played Superman!

Cotrona may be best known for playing Flint in ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’ or from ‘From Dusk Til Dawn: The Series’.  He portrayed Seth Gecko on the show for three seasons.

‘This Is Us’ star Faithe Herman plays the youngest of Billy’s foster siblings, Darla Dudley, but Meagan Good will portray her adult super form.  Good is older than her comic book counterpart.

Meagan Good
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faithe herman
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In the comics, Darla gets older but is still a child in her heroic form.  She wears a purple costume and has an enhanced version of the Speed of Mercury.

Good has appeared in some movies like ‘Think Like a Man’ and ‘Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues’, but has mainly worked on TV on series such as ‘Californication’, ‘Deception’, ‘Minority Report’, ‘Code Black’ and ‘White Famous’.

These new castings throw into question the role of 22 year-old Grace Fulton.  Until now, she has been reported as playing Mary Bromfield, another of Billy’s foster siblings (who in past continuity turned out to be his real twin sister).  But Fulton is considerably older than Asher Angel who is playing Billy and the other young cast members.  It seems more likely that she is actually playing the adult version of Mary, but at this point, that’s just a guess.

‘Shazam!’ also stars Zachary Levi as the titular champion, Mark Strong as villain Thaddeus Sivana, Ron Cephas Jones as the Wizard who bestows the kids with their super powers and Cooper Andrews and Marta Milans as the kids’ foster parents Victor and Rosa Vasquez.  Henry Cavill‘s Superman is rumored to be making a cameo as well.  David F. Sandberg is directing the film which is due to hit theaters on April 5, 2019.

What do you think of the entire Shazam Family coming to life on the big screen?

Source: Batman News