Jerry Ordway yesterday voiced his support for the filmmaking team currently hard at work bringing Shazam to the big screen. Ordway posted some new Shazam art along with his well-wishes. The art shows the character mid-transformation from mild-mannered Billy Batson to the nigh-indestructible superhero Shazam, as well as a drawing of Shazam midflight.
While I’m sending good wishes for 2018, this one is for @ponysmasher and @ZacharyLevi , and everyone working hard on the Shazam film! pic.twitter.com/or9shig7nL
— Jerry Ordway (@JerryOrdway) January 1, 2018
Ordway’s tweet singles out Zachary Levi, the actor who will play the lead character in the upcoming Shazam! film, and David F. Sandberg, the film’s director. Shazam! has been in the works since the early ‘00s, but Sandberg and Levi only joined the project in mid-2017.
RELATED: Shazam! Could Be Like Guardians of the Galaxy, Zachary Levi Says
Ordway was instrumental in redefining Shazam as a character. Ordway wrote and illustrated the 1994 graphic novel The Power of Shazam!, which served as a reboot for the character and his archenemies, Black Adam. Ordway also wrote for and provided cover art on the ongoing series by the same name that ran from 1995 to 1999.
Debuting in theaters April 5, 2019, Shazam! is directed by David F. Sandberg and stars Zachary Levi as Shazam, Asher Angel as Billy Batson, Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy Freeman, Grace Fulton as Mary Bromfield and Cooper Andrews as Victor Vasquez.