Mark Strong Chose To Star In ‘Shazam!’ To Make Up For ‘Green Lantern’

Mark Strong wasn’t the only one disappointed with the performance of 2011’s Green Lantern, which is why he’s making up for it by starring DC’s upcoming Shazam! Set to play Doctor Sivana in the upcoming film, Strong is set to go up against Billy Baston who becomes Shazam, an adult superhero, when he says his name.

Mark Strong has always been great at playing villains but playing a DC villain felt important to him, especially after the disappointing Green Lantern film from 2011, which starred Ryan Reynolds. Speaking with Celebretainment in London, Strong revealed that he’s been waiting to play another DC villain:

“I’m playing an evil bastard called Doctor Sivana, they are always the best characters to play, the most fun. I was Sinestro in Green Lantern which I though was a rather good film 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.”

Strong continued to talk about the upcoming Shazam film, citing what influenced the project:

“It’s a funny film, 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.”

The star has also been spending quite some time at the gym to prepare for the role:

“I’ve been training like a mad man, 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.”

What do you think about Mark Strong playing another DC villain? Do you think he’ll have better luck outside of Green Lantern? Sound off in the comments section below!

Directed by David F. Sandberg, the film stars Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, Grace Fulton, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Cooper Andrews.

Shazam! is set to hit theatres on April 5, 2019.

Source: celebretainment