Sure, the heroes introduced in Justice League are now moving on to their own adventures, but the DCEU also has some new heroes on the way, as well. In fact, Billy Batson will finally hit the big screen next year when David F. Sandberg's Shazam! premieres on April 5. Despite our excitement for the film, some fans have expressed concern and confusion over specific design choices made on the titular hero's recently-revealed costume. On that note, Sandberg recently decided to take to social media to clear up any issues. In response to a fan question about the hero's shorter cape, Sandberg wrote:
The Golden Age influence is definitely easy to see on the Shazam! costume design. The suit is more soft fabric than armor (which makes sense, as Shazam doesn't really need armor), and the cape is shorter and more ornamental in nature. A broad range of Justice League heroes that we have seen introduced on the big screen thus far have taken their cues from the New 52 line of comics, but with Shazam!, David F. Sandberg decided to go back almost a century for his visual inspiration.
Then there's a matter of the size of the logo, which has varied wildly over the years. Though more recent takes on the character have used longer, full-body lightning bolt insignias, it turns out that David F. Sandberg ultimately opted to place a smaller logo on the character's chest as a way to give actor Zachary Levi better range of motion for his performance. The Lights Out director explained:
Last, but not least, another fan took to Twitter to question David F. Sandberg about the lack of lightning or static electricity surrounding the Shazam seen in the early pictures. Noting the nuances of the post-production process, Sandberg responded by explaining that those visual elements just are not done yet. The director wrote:
That last point cuts to the core of what makes Shazam! such an interesting project: we have seen practically nothing from it. Though the film recently wrapped production, much of what we have seen from the project has come from leaked behind-the-scenes pictures and videos, with few official clips or stills released by the studio. Warner Bros. seems to have decided to play Shazam! much closer to the chest than some of its previous superhero endeavors so we will have to wait and see what the full, head-to-toe costume finally looks like when WB opts to show it to us.
All of these visual costume elements will come together when Shazam! debuts in theaters next year on April 5, 2019. Until then, start gearing up for the journey to the bottom of the ocean when James Wan's Aquaman premieres in theaters on December 21!
