In the comics, Doctor Thaddeus Sivana is a short, bald mad scientist, with bad vision and an overbite. In the movie ‘Shazam!’, Mark Strong‘s portrayal is… well, none of those things, except the mad scientist part. While we’ve caught glimpses of Strong’s Sivana flexing some mighty muscle, it seems as though in the film, he is essentially as powerful as Shazam, minus the snappy red jumpsuit.
The new Chinese trailer shows off Sivana more than previous clips. Strong is shown flinging bolts of electricity, flying and sparring with Shazam to a stand-still. Of course, with the movie’s lighter tone, there are some comical elements, such as when Sivana delivers his dramatic soliloquy before attacking. Zachary Levi’s Shazam yells that they are “like a mile away” from each other and that he can’t hear him.
This trailer is packed with all-new footage that has never been used in prior clips, including references to Batman, Superman, and Aquaman.
Perhaps most jarring is the intro, which was obviously just filmed recently, as kid stars Asher Angel (Billy Batson) and Jack Dylan Grazer (Freddy Freeman) are noticeably older than they appear in the film. That’s the problem with kids; they just keep growing. If Warner Brothers wants to make sequels, they need to get cracking sooner rather than later, otherwise ‘Shazam! 2’ will be the exciting story of one grownup who magically turns into another different grownup.
Check out the new trailer below:
One fun fan-friendly moment from the trailer is the little boy playing with his Batman and Superman action figures, while humming the classic John Williams score to the first ‘Superman’ movie. Unfortunately, ‘Shazam!’ director David F. Sandberg has since clarified that the humming was added for the trailer and that while this scene is in the movie, the boy is not humming in it.
Of course, the clip closes with a retread of the old “Aquaman talks to fish” gag. Perhaps Sandberg felt the need to support Shazam’s cinematic brother, but after the phenomenal success of the ‘Aquaman’ movie, that’s really not necessary.
Directed by David F. Sandberg, ‘Shazam!’ stars Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Cooper Andrews, Jovan Armand, Michelle Borth, Adam Brody, Ross Butler, Ian Chen, D.J. Cotrona, Grace Fulton, Faithe Herman, Djimon Hounsou, Marta Milans, Natalia Safran and Mark Strong, and opens on April 5, 2019.
