Who should play Shazam?
Now that the DCCU is finally coming together with plans to bring the World Trinity, Cyborg and perhaps even Aquaman together on the big screen for the first time in Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, it was only a matter of time before the stage was set for a Shazam movie to follow. After months of speculation, Dwayne Johnson finally revealed he will be playing Black Adam in the Shazam movie, which will be released at a currently unknown date. Whilst I was hoping he'd be playing the hero rather than the villain, this only allows fanboys such as I to hit the drawing board again and assess who would be best to don the electric costume, and go up against Black Adam. Apologies for the oversized photos - Everytime I make these articles, they come up far larger than they appear on my word documents. Without any further ado however, here are my picks:
1. Joe Manganiello
Joe Manganiello
Best known for:
Spider Man (2002), Spider Man 3 (2007), One Tree Hill (2008), True Blood (2010) and
What to expect when you’re expecting (2012)
Known for his rugged looks and towering height, Joe Manganiello has made it no secret that he wants a big CBM role, and with his natural comedic talent and passion for playing supernatural roles, Manganiello is a perfect fit for Shazam. His popularity and critical recognition arguably came from his leading role in True Blood, which later nabbed the attention of Warner Bros. in 2011 to ask him to do a screen test for Man of Steel. Due to schedules clashing, he never got to put on the infamous suit, but that has only just begun his interest for CBM roles, and it’s about time he plays one. A naturally comedic actor, incredibly bulked up already and with the appearance of the character, I feel Joe Manganiello is a perfect fit for Shazam.
2. Liam Hemsworth
Liam Hemsworth
Best known for:
The Last Song (2010), The Hunger Games (2012), The Expendables 2 (2012), Empire State (2013) and
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) and being Miley Cyrus’s ex
Whilst he is the younger and lesser known of the two Hemsworth brothers, Liam Hemsworth is nonetheless just as talented as his brother if not more, and would bring a lot to the role of Shazam. Liam Hemsworth is finally catching his lucky break in the last four years in terms of landing roles in successful blockbusters and making a name for himself. That big break came with the 2010 hit movie The Last Song, which he won an award for and also a pop-star girlfriend (though fortunately for him, that didn’t last long). He finally landed a recurring role in a big movie franchise with the Hunger Games as Gale Hawthorne, and finally made his appearance in The Expendables 2, after he failed to schedule his appearance in the first movie. With his age and talent, Hemsworth can easily catch the image and charisma of a cocky young child in adult form, and could end up surprising thousands if not millions.
3. Brandon Molale
Brandon Molale
Best known for:
Mr Deeds (2002), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004), The Vampire’s Assistant (2009) and
Little Murder (2010)
With a towering height of 6 foot 4 and impressive physical strength, Brandon Molale is no stranger to standing out on the big screen, making him a brilliant contender to fight alongside Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam as Shazam. His most prominent role to date was as fictional New York Jets quarterback Kevin Ward in Mr. Deeds and as Blazer in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. Like Manganiello, Molale has made it no secret he wants a CBM role, but unlike Manganiello, Brandon Molale has been wanting to play Shazam for some time now and has been a fan-favourite of the role ever since. Now that Warner Bros. are delivering a shared DC Cinematic Universe, and with production of the Shazam movie finally going ahead, now is the time for Brandon Molale to rise up and prove to them why he deserves to be Shazam, something which I feel he’d have little trouble in doing.
4. Jake Gyllenhaal
Jake Gyllenhaal
Best known for:
October Sky (1999), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Zodiac (2007), Source Code (2011) and
End of Watch (2012)
Once rumoured for the role of Shazam seven years ago, and once almost our Batman of the previous decade in the TDK trilogy, Jake Gyllenhaal has had close calls to finally landing a CBM role, but now that the DCCU is coming together, and a Shazam movie is finally coming out of Development Hell, perhaps it is now time he finally became Shazam just as he was once believed to be. He did well playing the emotions of innocence and sympathy in Brokeback Mountain, which would be essential in developing the underlying layers behind Shazam. Whilst he would need to seriously bulk up to play the role, he is arguably the most talented and experienced actor on this list, so if we want someone who can really do the role of Shazam justice and make us actually sympathise with the character, Jake Gyllenhaal is the guy to go with.
5. Jason Segel
Jason Segel
Best known for:
How I Met Your Mother (2005), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), Bad Teacher (2011), The Muppets (2011 ) and
Sex Tape (2014)
My personal original choice, which many of you will probably disagree with, but I think could work; yes, I want Marshall Ericksen to play Shazam, and no I haven’t received a bump to the head nor do I talk to sheep. He’s a tremendous actor who’s naturally funny even when he’s not intending to be, he was sympathetic yet hilarious in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (And also stark naked), and he takes an initiative in trying to be hands on with the writing behind the movies he’s in, and with that sort of initiative, likely would do a tremendous amount of research to get into the character of Shazam. Whilst he may not be as physically built as Dwayne Johnson, he does have the staggering height of Shazam as well as the face, so all he needs is time to bulk up and show us all he could take the Rock on (Hey, we gave Gal Gadot plenty of time to prepare for Wonder Woman, and look at how much difference there is in her when we saw her wearing the suit for the first time). Overall, it would be a risky casting, but given the time to bulk up and prepare for the role, I have faith Jason Segel would bring both the hilarity and emotion to the character of Billy Batson in Shazam form, he is imo a very underrated actor.
6. Tom Hardy
Tom Hardy
Best known for:
Wuthering Heights (2008), Bronson (2009), Inception (2011), Warrior (2012) and
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Having already appeared in one popular modern CBM already, and with an impressive build and career so far, Tom Hardy is a fantastic choice to play the role of Shazam. He’s already played a humorous shifty sci-fi character in Inception, and played the intimidating and charismatic Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, qualities of which are essential to the character of Shazam; portraying these qualities well enough in CBMs is difficult enough for starting actors who haven’t felt the anxiety and pressure of playing well beloved fictional characters, but as he has done already and knows what he’s dealing with, Hardy would be able to take all of this on the chin and knows exactly how to deliver the role. One problem that the quirkiest of fans would have with this choice though is that he is 5 foot 9, whereas the Rock is 6 foot 3, so camera angling and other precautions will have to be undertaken to counter this issue. Still, this is but a very small con compared to all of the big pros that come with having Tom Hardy playing the role of Shazam; he’d put a lot of passion and work into the role, he’s got the look and talent, and come on, I can see all the Bane-Shazam memes already.
That concludes my list of actors that I personally feel could play the boyish, arrogant, physically confident and all-round powerful Shazam on the big screen. But out of the six, who would you pick? Share in the comments below who you think from the list is the best to play Shazam, or even who else outside of the list would be a worthy contender.