What is the best way to start the year? The answer is some artwork inspired by the upcoming Shazam! film by none other than DC’s Jerry Ordway. The uncolored sketch was placed on the blank-variant cover of the comic book series Multiversity.
Ordway had a long and varied career as a writer, inker, artist, and painter with notable achievements inking George Perez’s pencils in the classic Crisis on Infinite Earths. Jerry Ordway is loved by comic fans, most notably with his work in The Power of Shazam, which he wrote and painted all the artwork for the 1994 graphic novel. This reintroduced Billy Batson and his alter ego into the DC Comics Universe. The Power of Shazam inspired a monthly comic book, which Ordway wrote scripts and painted covers.
The image (which can be seen below) was released on Twitter where Ordway tagged Shazam! director David F. Sandberg and Zachary Levi who was cast as the titular hero. On the back cover, it features Billy Batson’s transformation into Shazam and around him we can see the magical lightning that grants Batson the power of Earth’s Mightiest Mortal, accompanied by dramatic clouds and smoke surrounding the hero. On the front cover, we can see Shazam soaring high with a magical lightning brewing behind him.
As of this moment, the only piece that we know is that Shazam! filming is underway and will be held in Toronto. There’s no new information on the film besides this will be an origin story of the hero. Earlier last year, it was confirmed that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who was long time cast to play the villainous Black Adam, will not make an appearance in the movie. However, he will star in his own eventual Black Adam solo film.
