Production on the DC Comics adaptation of Shazam! may be finished, but that’s not stopping us from learning about a new cast member. Gladiator and Guardians of the Galaxy star Djimon Hounsou has been revealed to be part of the Shazam! cast. He’s not a last minute addition being inserted into the movie during reshoots or in post-production, but instead, he’s been cast in the movie for awhile, but his involvement had not yet been discovered until now.
Entertainment Weekly has announced that Djimon Hounsou will be part of the Shazam! cast as the 3,000-year old sorcerer from Ancient Egypt who uses his powers to fight evil and has been seeking a successor to carry on his mission. So he ends up giving his powers to a young kid named Billy Batson, allowing him to turn into the fully grown adult superhero known as Shazam. The role was previously reported to belong to Ron Cephas Jones, but his casting never came together due to a scheduling conflict.
Hounsou will now be one of the few actors to have a role both in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Extended Universe. The actor previously played Korath the Pursuer in Guardians of the Galaxy, a role that he will reprise in Marvel’s upcoming 2019 release of Captain Marvel. Funnily enough, Captain Marvel was the original comic book name of Shazam before DC Comics changed the title. The actor isn’t new to the larger DC universe, either, since he played Papa Midnight in WB’s Constantine film way back in 2005.
Shazam! hits theaters on April 5, 2019
Source: Entertainment Weekly
