50 Fun Facts About Shazam!

Who plays the adult superhero form of Billy Batson in Shazam!?

He was chosen from around 100 actors after an audition taped on his iPhone; he had originally read for adult Freddy.

Who plays teenage Billy Batson?

Finn Wolfhard of Stranger Things also auditioned for the part.

Who directed Shazam! and its sequel?

The horror director behind Annabelle: Creation chose it over Sony's Venom because he knew the New Line crew.

Who plays the villain Dr. Thaddeus Sivana?

It was his second DC film after playing Sinestro in Green Lantern.

Who plays the ancient wizard who gives Billy his powers?

Ron Cephas Jones was originally cast but dropped out over scheduling; Hounsou had voiced a character in Aquaman.

What is the name of the wizard's mystic temple in another dimension?

By the end of the first film the foster siblings claim it as their superhero headquarters.

In what year is young Thaddeus Sivana first summoned to the wizard, in the film's prologue?

He is riding in a snowstorm with his abusive father and brother in Upstate New York when it happens.

Through which toy do the Seven Deadly Sins send young Sivana a message to find them?

The car crash that follows leaves his father paraplegic and even more resentful.

In which city is the film primarily set?

The comics' Fawcett City is folded into it; the film was actually shot mostly in Toronto.

Where did Billy lose his birth mother as a small child?

When he finally finds her, he learns she abandoned him deliberately.

What are the names of Billy's foster parents?

Both had been in the foster system themselves; they are played by Cooper Andrews and Marta Milans.

Who plays Freddy Freeman, Billy's superhero-obsessed foster brother?

Adam Brody plays his adult superhero form.

Which foster sibling is described as the 'den mother' of the group?

Grace Fulton played her as a teen; in the sequel she took over the adult form from Michelle Borth too.

Where is Billy when he is transported to the wizard for the first time?

He has just defended Freddy from the Breyer brothers and is being chased.

What replaces one of Sivana's eyes and makes him the vessel of the Sins?

Billy beats him by goading Envy out and yanking the Eye from his head.

Which power does Billy discover by accident while fleeing Sivana?

Before that he had been busking with his powers for tips and endangering a bus.

Where does the final battle of Shazam! take place?

It echoes where Billy lost his mother; the sequel moves its climax to a ballpark.

Which Sin does Billy goad into leaving Sivana, rendering him powerless?

Billy had spotted that Sivana becomes vulnerable when all seven Sins leave his body.

Which superhero does Billy bring to lunch at school in the final scene of Shazam!?

Henry Cavill was unavailable, so Levi's stunt double appears from the neck down.

Which character, a talking caterpillar, appears in the mid-credits scene of Shazam!?

The director voices him; a bigger role in the sequel was cut for time.

Whose likeness appears as the hologram of the wizard's previous champion, Teth-Adam?

Johnson executive-produced Shazam! and had been attached as Black Adam since 2014.

Which director was attached to Shazam! during its 2008-2013 development with John August's script?

He said in 2013 the film would not happen because Man of Steel made the similarities to a certain Kryptonian a problem.

What was the Shazam character originally called before DC renamed him for the New 52?

Marvel owned the trademark for its own character, so DC had marketed him as Shazam! ever since buying the rights from Fawcett in 1972.

Which 1988 Tom Hanks film did the star say Shazam! would feel like, 'but with super powers'?

The Hollywood Reporter's review duly called it 'Big on steroids'.

Under what working title was Shazam! shot in Toronto?

Most of it was made at Pinewood Toronto Studios, with University of Toronto and Hearn Generating Station among the locations.

Shazam!'s budget of roughly $90-100M made it what within the DCEU at the time?

It grossed $367.8 million and Deadline estimated a $74 million net profit.

Who composed the score for Shazam!, his third collaboration with Sandberg?

He cited John Williams and 1980s Amblin scores; a Flash scheduling clash kept him off the sequel.

Roughly how much did Shazam! (2019) gross worldwide?

It opened to $53.5 million domestically and held number one for two weekends before The Curse of La Llorona.

What CinemaScore grade did audiences give Shazam! (2019)?

Rotten Tomatoes' consensus praised its 'joyous wish fulfillment'; the sequel got a B+.

Which country was Shazam!'s highest-grossing international market?

It made $43.4 million there; the sequel took just $4.3 million in the same market.

Which Sandberg film's social worker, Emma Glover, reappears as an Easter egg in Shazam!?

Andi Osho reprises the role from his 2016 debut feature.

Who are the villains of Shazam! Fury of the Gods?

The three sisters are played by an Oscar winner, a Charlie's Angel and a West Side Story lead.

Which actress plays Hespera, the eldest daughter of Atlas?

She earned a Razzie nomination for Worst Actress for it.

Which sister does Lucy Liu play?

She wields the power of chaos and wants to plant the Tree of Life on Earth to destroy it.

Rachel Zegler's Anthea hides on Earth under what name, as Freddy's love interest?

Zegler had first been considered for Supergirl in The Flash before losing that part to Sasha Calle.

In which city do the two elder sisters steal the wizard's broken staff at the start of the sequel?

Billy had snapped it in half at the end of the first film to share his powers.

What is Steve, whom the family meets in the wizard's lair in the sequel?

It writes out the history of the Daughters and helps draft a negotiation letter to Hespera.

What nickname does the public give the heroes after a bridge collapse early in the sequel?

Sandberg said the city-under-a-dome plot that follows was inspired by The Simpsons Movie.

What is the Golden Apple that Hespera steals from the Rock?

Once planted in a ballpark it spawns monsters across the city.

What is the name of the dragon the middle sister brings to Earth?

In Greek myth Ladon guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides, which is where the film's apple comes from.

Where is the Tree of Life planted in the sequel?

Billy sacrifices himself there by overloading the staff with electricity.

Which DC hero appears at the end of Fury of the Gods to repair the staff and resurrect Billy?

Gal Gadot's cameo was meant to be a surprise, but the final trailers revealed it, to Sandberg's annoyance.

In the sequel's mid-credits scene, Billy is invited to join which team?

Emilia Harcourt and John Economos make the offer; the scene was originally written for Black Adam's JSA before that film's star vetoed it.

Where was Fury of the Gods filmed?

The COVID-delayed shoot ran from May to August 2021, a change from the first film's Toronto base.

Roughly how much did Fury of the Gods gross worldwide, against a budget of $110-125M?

Its $30.1 million opening was the third-lowest in the DCEU, and it was labelled a bomb.

Which 1970s Shazam! TV actor cameos in Fury of the Gods, calling Billy by the hero's original name?

CNN's Wolf Blitzer also appears as himself.

Which actor plays the adult superhero form of Freddy Freeman in Shazam!?

Each foster sibling gets a grown-up alter ego in the finale; Butler plays Eugene's and Cotrona plays Pedro's.

Zachary Levi was chosen for the lead from how many actors after an iPhone-taped audition?

Levi was confirmed in October 2017, a month before Mark Strong entered final talks to play Dr. Sivana.

Which DC TV veteran, Smallville's Lionel Luthor, plays Thaddeus Sivana's estranged father Sid?

Glover had also voiced the Riddler in Batman: The Animated Series and played Dr. Jason Woodrue in Batman and Robin.

Who voices the alien caterpillar Mister Mind in the mid-credits scene of Shazam!?

The film's director also cameos as all three Crocodile-Men, and his wife Lotta Losten plays the researcher Dr. Lynn Crosby.