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With Shazam! now playing in movie theaters around the world, I recently sat down with director Mark Strong to talk about making the DC movie. During the interview, he discussed why the comic book movie/superhero genre is so popular around the world, the secret to coming up with a badass villain costume, how David F. Sandberg  was able to get away with the boardroom scene, and more. Plus, Strong talked about The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and his other series Temple.

Scripted by Henry Gayden (Earth to Echo) from a story by Gayden and Darren Lemk (Goosebumps), Shazam! tells the story of a 14-year-old boy named Billy who, when he shouts the word “SHAZAM!”, can turn into an adult superhero (Zachary Levi). Asher Angel plays Billy, while Zachary Levi plays the adult Shazam. It breakout Jack Dylan Grazer plays Billy’s best friend Freddy Freeman. Shazam! also stars Djimon Hounsou, Grace Fulton, Faithe Herman, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Cooper Andrews, and Marta Milans.

Finally, I absolutely loved Shazam!. David F. Sandberg has crafted something special that both comic book movie fans and audiences of all ages will absolutely love. Not only is the film super fun, extremely funny and a big serving of unbridled wish fulfillment, Sandberg grounds the story around family and it’s unlike anything DC has done before. Shazam! is absolutely worth seeing in a theater.

Check out what Mark Strong had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about followed by the official synopsis.

Mark Strong :

• Why does he think the superhero genre/comic book movie is so popular around the world?

• 

  What is the secret to coming up with a badass villain costume?
• Did he borrow his coat from set?
• How they were able to get away with a lot in the boardroom scene.
• What can he say about doing a voice in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance?
• Talks about Temple and what the series is about.

Here’s the official synopsis for Shazam!:

We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s (Angel) case, by shouting out one word—SHAZAM!—this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam (Levi), courtesy of an ancient wizard. Still a kid at heart—inside a ripped, godlike body—Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them! Can he fly? Does he have X-ray vision? Can he shoot lightning out of his hands? Can he skip his social studies test? Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of a child. But he’ll need to master these powers quickly in order to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Strong).

For more on Shazam!, check out the links below:

• First ‘Shazam!’ Reactions Tease a Fun, Vibrant Superhero Movie with a Family-Centric Twist
• ‘Shazam!’: 18 Things to Know About the Next DC Movie
• Zachary Levi Reveals How He Landed ‘Shazam!’ and Making Something Between ‘Superman’ and ‘Big’
• Here’s a Full List of Upcoming DC Movies: From ‘Shazam!’ to ‘Aquaman 2’