Shazam! will be going up against Doctor Sivana.
And he’s being played by Mark Strong.
During an interview with Celebretainment, the 54-year-old actor – who tars alongside Zachary Levy in the upcoming Shazam! movie – confirmed he’s playing the villainous, Doctor Sivana.
“I’m playing an evil bastard called Doctor Sivana,” he revealed. “They are always the best characters to play, the most fun.”
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Of course, this isn’t Strong’s first villainous comic book role.
Most notably, he played mob boss Frank D’Amico in the gritty 2010 superhero flick, Kick-Ass, which was based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. And then, in 2011 he starred as Sinestro in the ill-fated Green Lantern movie.
And unlike the rest of us, he rather liked it.
“I was Sinestro in Green Lantern, which I though was a rather good film,” he said. “But it didn’t do what they wanted. So I feel like I’ve got unfinished business in the DC world. I played a pretty evil character in that, and he was meant to get even worse in the second one but that never happened, but I think I’m going to get the chance to do that in Shazam! I hope so.”
Who is Doctor Sivana?
Well, he first appeared opposite Shazam! back when the hero was still called Captain Marvel, in Whiz Comics #2 back in 1940. He’s essentially the hero’s archenemy, and a self-described mad scientist. And he’s been regularly facing off against Shazam! all these years.
“I’ve been training like a mad man.” Strong revealed. “I’m about to go over and see the stunt guys, I’ve been trying all of these harnesses on and I think I’m going to be doing lots of flying around and firing electricity out of my hands.”
And what can we expect from Shazam!
Well, it sounds as though it’s going to be a rather light-hearted affair.
“It’s a funny film.” He said. “It’s about a young boy who can become a superhero but still remains a young boy so there’s elements of Big, there’s elements of Stranger Things. I think originally the comic outsold Superman in the 1940s.”
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Shazam! stars Asher Angel, Zachary Levi, Jack Dylan Grazer, Grace Fulton and Mark Strong.
David F. Sandberg will direct the movie, based on a script by Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke.
Shazam! heads to cinemas on 5 April 2019.
