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Mark Strong Nears Deal For ‘Shazam!’ Villain

A sinister doctor will make life painful for Shazam!
Mark Strong Kingsman
By  · Published on November 6th, 2017

A sinister doctor will make life painful for Shazam!

Mark Strong is in talks to play Captain Marvel’s nemesis, Doctor Sivana, in the upcoming Shazam! feature film. We reported recently that Zachery Levi will play the part of Captain Marvel.

David F. Sandberg who directed Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation is set up to direct the picture for New Line Cinema. Shazam! is based on the DC Comics character and follows the adventures of Billy Batson. When he speaks the word Shazam!, he is transformed into an adult superhero complete with powers of superhuman strength, speed, flight, and other abilities. As you might surmise, the character has had numerous trademark disputes over the years given that his original name was Captain Marvel. As of 2011, the character was officially named Shazam in an attempt to avoid lawsuits and confusion.

Enough about Shazam himself though. What you are really here for to learn about Mark Strong’s villain Doctor Sivana. He is known as Shazam’s most frequent foe and he debuted alongside the hero way back in 1940. A character extremely similar to Superman’s Lex Luther, Sivana is an incredible genius whose work often goes misunderstood. It has made him extremely bitter about the world and he will do whatever possible to get his own way as long as it suits him. In his appearances in comics in later years, he was often assisted by his evil family members.

Mark Strong is not a new face when it comes to comic book adaptations. He was the villain in the poorly received Green Lantern film and also has appearances in Kick-Ass and the Kingsman films. Mark Strong and Zachery Levi will also be joined by Annabelle: Creation actress, Grace Fulton. Apparently, she will be playing a friend of Billy Baston.

The idea for the Shazam! film comes as a mini-project of sorts. The idea was always to have Dwayne Johnson play Shazam! villain Black Atom, but that premise was so exciting they decided to give each character their own film and then have them meet up in a third film. Now the Black Atom movie is currently in pre-production along with this Shazam! project.

 

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News Writer/Columnist for Film School Rejects. It’s the Pictures Co-host. Bylines Playboy, ZAM, Paste Magazine and more.