Does Zachary Levi’s ‘Shazam!’ Costume Enhance His Muscles?

Ever since the first official photo of Zachary Levi in his Shazam! costume debuted, fans suspected the actor’s impressive physique was enhanced with padding in the superhero outfit. When asked about this on the set of the movie, costume designer Leah Butler told us that Zachary Levi did indeed work out for Shazam! while reminding fans that most actors have had assistance with improving their physique for superhero roles.

Leah Butler noted that Superman actor Christopher Reeve is one of the only actors to don a superhero outfit that didn’t enhance their muscles, but stressed just how much work Zachary Levi put into improving his physique:

“Well, the only all natural person ever in history was Christopher Reeve. So there’s your answer. Okay? Now, maybe Dwayne Johnson would be, I’m not sure. I don’t care who it is right now, everyone has [inaudible] But Zack got in incredible shape. So we were very thankful that he was able to do that and his form has really helped so much and really showing out Shazam the way he should be. So I think Zack has worked really hard, I don’t know if you’ve seen the photos (laughs) but he’s done a really great job. So I just wanted to make sure you know that.

Fans can check out the costume in action when the DC film hits theaters in Spring!

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, Shazam! stars Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Mark Strong, Jack Dylan Grazer, Grace Fulton, Faithe Herman, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Cooper Andrews, Marta Milans, and Ron Cephas.

Shazam! will be released in theaters on April 5, 2019.