Mark Strong in Talks to Play ‘Shazam’ Villain

While actors like Laurence Fishburne are crossing the streams by playing characters in both the Marvel and DC cinematic universes , it appears Mark Strong is keen on having a go at playing two characters from the same comic book company . Per The Wrap, the Green Lantern actor is in talks to play the DC Comics villain Doctor Sivana in New Line Cinema’ s upcoming Shazam . The DCEU film recently set Zachary Levi in the lead role , as the story revolves around a young boy who transforms into a mighty superhero simply by uttering the magic word “ Shazam !” .
Strong played the supporting character of Sinestro in Warner Bros.’ 2011 Green Lantern movie, with a post - credits scene setting up his character as a villain in a future sequel . This was before Warner Bros. had established an interconnected universe of DC movies , and that film was only intended to kick off a franchise of its own . But due to poor reviews and underwhelming box office , a follow- up never got off the ground .

Strong ’s Green Lantern co - star Ryan Reynolds made the jump to 20 th Century Fox ’s Marvel universe just fine as he ’s now the star of the bona fide blockbuster franchise Deadpool , so it ’s possible Strong gets the success he was hoping for with
Shazam. Lights Out and Annabelle : Creation director David F . Sandberg is at the helm of the DCEU movie, which is due to start filming in early 2018 .
The comics character of Doctor Sivana was a respected and brilliant scientist who breaks bad over , well , dumb circumstances . But the overall gist is that in the DC comics , Sivana is the one who deduces boy radio broadcaster Billy Batson as the alter ego of Shazam / Captain Marvel , so he poses a threat to the kid ’s real life. That’s likely how he ’ll come into play in what will serve as an introductory film in the Shazam franchise.
A Black Adam movie is concurrently in development with Dwayne Johnson playing tha DC Comics character who is most famously known as the main adversary of Shazam . When that crossover or Black Adam movie happens is unclear , but it sounds like Sivana is being teed up as Shazam ’s first adversary .
Shazam has no official release date but will likely hit theaters in 2019 .