‘Shazam!’ will be Warner Brothers’ next DC superhero movie, after this winter’s ‘Aquaman’.  It arrives in theaters next April but is shooting now in Toronto and while most photography is taking place in Pinewood Studios, it appears one scene was filmed on location and as is the norm, someone with a cell phone snapped a pic.  Obviously, this being a “paparazzi” image, it’s not a full-on, high quality shot and very far from a publicity photo.  But it does give us our first tease of star Zachary Levi fully suited-up as Shazam.

Are you ready to see the Big Red Cheese?

Clearly we can’t see the front, but honestly, it looks pretty damn perfect!  The suit looks a little padded but not as clunky and cumbersome as some past movie superhero costumes.  It’s a gloriously loud and unapologetic red.  Most live action costumes mute out the colors so that they don’t seem too cartoon-y but with a fanciful character like this, the vibrant color scheme fits.  The costume overall borrows more heavily from the modern New 52 redesign, as you can see in the belt and boots that are missing the flaps of the classic design.  His cape also includes the hood from the New 52 version, but it retains a mini-cape over the longer under-cape, which throws back to the original.  It may just be the image (or my imagination), but Levi’s hair even has a slick, plastic-y look to it, which perfectly suits a cartoon character.

Now it is possible that the costume will look differently on the big screen, once visual effects are added.  But hopefully, they don’t tone it down.

Some people online are tearing this image apart, because it’s the internet.  But honestly, it appears to be a spot-on recreation of the comic book suit which refreshingly does not apologize one bit for being based on a comic book.

‘Shazam!’ follows the exploits of Billy Batson, a young boy who is given the mystical ability to transform into an adult superhero with the power of the ancient gods.  David F. Sandberg is directing.  In addition to Levi, the cast includes Asher Angel as Billy Batson,  Cooper Andrews as Victor Vasquez, Jovan Armand as Pedro Peña, Ian Chen as Eugene Choi, Grace Fulton as Mary Bromfeld, Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy Freedman, Faithe Herman as Darla Dudley,  Ron Cephas Jones as The Wizard, Marta Milans as Rosa Vasquez, and Mark Strong as Doctor Sivana.

‘Shazam!’ hits theaters on April 5, 2019.

Source: Reddit