Shazam! director David F. Sandberg and producer Peter Safran teased that an LGBTQ superhero may be featured in the upcoming Warner Bros. film, according to PinkNews.
Shazam! is a film about teenager Billy Batson, played by Asher Angel, who is bestowed with superpowers and the ability to transform into an adult-sized superhero – played by Zachary Levi – simply by saying “Shazam!”
Sandberg and Safran spoke to PinkNews about LGBTQ superheroes, hinting that one may be coming as soon as April 5, the release date of Shazam!.
“Don’t want to put spoilers [out there] or anything… but I think you will see [an LGBTQ superhero] sooner rather than later,” Sandberg said.
“I think on April 5th, it will become clear,” Safran added.
Shazam! co-star Mark Strong, who plays villain Thaddeus Sivana, also told PinkNews that he believed it was time for audiences to see LGBTQ superheroes.
“[I don’t think we’re] very far at all,” Strong said. “Society is changing – people are becoming much more inclusive, they’re becoming aware of people who have been excluded. The more the merrier, I say. I think it’s time.”
An LGBTQ superhero has yet to be featured in films made by either Disney’s Marvel Studios or Warner Bros., the two comic-book-to-movie giants. However, Marvel Studios’ president Kevin Feige hinted to Entertainment Tonight that an LGBTQ superhero was in the works.
Shazam! hits theaters worldwide April 5.