With Kevin Feige and Co. in the process of casting Ben Mendelsohn as Captain Marvel‘s lead antagonist, Warner Bros. has turned to Hollywood’s other favorite bad guy for Shazam!
Yes, according to The Hollywood Reporter, British actor Mark Strong is now circling the role of Doctor Sivana in the David F. Sandberg-directed pic, which recently tapped Zachary Levi for the title role of Billy Batson, the boy wonder capable of transforming himself into DC’s Captain Marvel without so much as breaking a sweat.
Imbued with god-like abilities – Shazam literally draws his breathtaking power from Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury – Sandberg’s solo movie is beginning to accrue all the necessary ingredients for a spectacular, rip-roaring blockbuster. There’s the charismatic lead (read: Levi), while David F. Sandberg has long proven himself to be one of Hollywood’s most exciting new talents thanks to Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation. And now, Mark Strong could be the latest addition to the fold.
Those familiar with the Shazam! comics will know that Doctor Sivana is about as close to the archetypal mad-cap scientist as one can find. First introduced as Billy Batson’s arch-nemesis in 1940’s Whiz Comics No. 2, Sivana is said to be one of the smartest men on the planet, but he’s also guilty of “squandering his gifts on ridiculous inventions that no-one could understand, turning him bitter, twisted and eager to do the wrong thing as long as it helped him out.”
That’s a juicy role for Mark Strong to consider, and should a deal place, we’re confident that the British thesp will be able to bring the necessary gravitas to Doctor Sivana in 2019. Besides, after tormenting Green Lantern as Sinestro, Strong already has a superhero credit to his name.
Toronto will reportedly play host to Shazam! this February, which tells us that David Sandberg’s standalone pic ought to be ready for a primetime release in 2019, where it’ll slot in beside Wonder Woman 2 on the official DCEU slate.