While the notion of who would play Shazam wasn't that big of a deal, or on any radars before yesterday, with the news that Dwayne Johnson would playing Black Adam and a writer was on board for the DC comics movie, it seems like now they need a lead hero.

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Screen Crush did some speculating on who would make sense in the role and one name stuck out to them: 22 Jump Street and Magic Mike star Channing Tatum.

Tatum is no stranger to the superhero game with his highly publicized interest in making a Gambit movie within the X-Men universe with him playing the lead role. But so far, all indications from the studio is that the movie is nowhere near being a sure thing and Tatum could be wide open.

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Screen Crush lists that Tatum would be perfect as Shazam because "he's got the physique to fill out that red suit, but he's proven his comic chops time and time again. No leading men are as unafraid to get silly as Tatum."

New Line Cinema head Toby Emmerich talked with Entertainment Weekly on Wednesday about the Shazam movie and said it would be unlike most of the other DC movie, with no tie to Justice League.

"It feels to me like Shazam will have a tone unto itself," Emmerich said. "It's a DC comic, but it's not a Justice League character, and it's not a Marvel comic. The tone and the feeling of the movie will be different from the other range of comic book movies."

Tatum would be perfect to capture both the physicality and the humor of the character with producers needing to not look much further than his last movie, 22 Jump Street, to see the hilarious moments mixed with the action ones. It would also allow Tatum to get his own superhero franchise and be able to mold his own character within it.

Shazam has no release date right now, but speculation says it could be in 2016 or 2017.

Tags
Shazam, Movies, Channing Tatum, Dwayne Johnson