Here’s What King Shark Could Look Like For James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad

The DC Extended Universe is currently on an exciting path. With the billion dollar hit that was Aquaman under its belt as well as the overwhelmingly positive early reactions to Shazam!, it seems like the franchise has finally found its footing. That along with some exciting new films in development such as The Suicide Squad from James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy), the future is pretty bright.

James Gunn was infamously ousted from directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 with Marvel Studios due to old, controversial tweets that were brought into the spotlight last summer. Disney’s decision to fire James Gunn has been controversial, and despite major support from his cast and crew (particularly from Drax actor Dave Bautista), Disney stood by its decision and James Gunn has now moved onto a new family of misfits: The Suicide Squad. 

Earlier this week, a report about the James Gunn lineup of Suicide Squad characters revealed that some deep cut lesser-known DC Comics characters may be making their cinematic debut in the highly-anticipated sequel. One of those characters was King Shark.

With King Shark rumored to be part of the roster, let’s take a look at concept art for the character from artist Peter Mitchell Rubin:

This impressive concept art of King Shark was created when David Ayer and the rest of his team were developing the first Suicide Squad film. King Shark was ultimately absent from the finished product, but with a new artist at the helm of this ragtag group of villains, he may be making his cinematic debut.

While we continue to wait for some exciting new updates from James Gunn and his new take on The Suicide Squad, the DCEU continues its exciting streak of standalone films with Shazam!. Here is the synopsis for the upcoming film:

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).

Directed by David F. Sandberg, DC Shazam! stars Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Mark Strong, Jack Dylan Grazer, Grace Fulton, Faithe Herman, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Cooper Andrews, Marta Milans and Djimon Honsou.

Shazam! will be released in theaters on April 5, 2019. Stay tuned to Heroic Hollywood for the latest news on the future of the current DCEU as we learn it.