The potential casting for the titular hero in Shazam has become one of the most talked about aspects of the DC slate. While The Rock has been attached to play the villainous Black Adam for quite some time, DC seems to have had a much harder time finding the movie's central character. However, The Rock recently confirmed that his personal favorite choice for the role would be The Social Network's Armie Hammer -- causing a wave of anticipation and speculation about the possibility. I recently had the chance to ask Hammer whether or not he's interested in Shazam, and while he has yet to meet with anyone about the part officially, he's also really pumped about the idea. He said:
Dude, so Dwayne said that thing and literally blew up my social media. I couldn't even open my Instagram. I thought my phone was gonna melt. But other than that no one's said anything. Yeah... I'm keeping my options open.
So, for now, it sounds like Armie Hammer is merely at the top of The Rock's Shazam wish list. No official talks have taken place to get Hammer onboard, but the actor also told us during a press event for Cars 3 that he's interested in the part. Hammer has seen the sheer amount of enthusiasm there is on social media for him to portray Shazam, so we will have to wait and see whether or not that factors into his decision in the long run. After all, with Shazam now less than two years away, a final casting decision will likely need to happen sooner rather than later.
The Rock is far from the only person to show enthusiasm for Armie Hammer stepping into the boots of Billy Batson's grown-up alter ego. In fact, the prospect of Hammer portraying the iconic DC hero has spurred an avalanche of fan art showing a number of visions for Hammer's take on the classic hero. Check out an example below.
That looks like a solid matchup between two Hollywood heavy hitters, doesn't it? In all honesty, you would be hard-pressed to find an actor more well-suited for the role of Shazam than Armie Hammer. Aside from his physically imposing presence, Hammer's characters are typically very charming, and they maintain a vital sense of childlike impulsivity and energy. For a hero like Shazam (who is quite literally a little kid inside the body of grown-up) that's a critical quality to have. Batman may have a monopoly on dark and brooding, but Shazam will need to crack a convincing smile.
There's a certain sense that Armie Hammer is downplaying his interest in playing the lead role in Shazam, and that's likely because he learned his lesson with another DC character. Hammer has consistently joked about the possibility of him playing Hal Jordan as one of the main Lanterns in Green Lantern Corps., and the internet's response to the possibility has shown him how seriously fans take these rumors. With nothing guaranteed to happen for him in the DCEU just yet, he may want to maintain some semblance of plausible deniability just in case he doesn't end up portraying Shazam.
We will have to wait and see whether or not Armie Hammer will join the DCEU's Shazam when the highly anticipated solo film debuts on April 5, 2019. For now, you can catch Armie Hammer as the voice of Jackson Storm in Pixar's Cars 3, which opens in theaters on June 16.
