‘Shazam’ Sequel Casts ‘West Side Story’ Actress Rachel Zegler In “Key Role”

If you’re a 16-year-old actress just starting out in Hollywood, there’s hardly a better way to launch a career than by first working with Steven Spielberg, followed by a major superhero movie. For Rachel Zegler that’s exactly what is happening. She was chosen from a field of thousands to star in Spielberg’s West Side Story film, and now Zegler has landed a key role in Shazam: Fury of the Gods.

THR reports Zegler has been cast in the Shazam sequel, taking a “key role” opposite stars Asher Angel, Zachary Levi, and Jack Dylan Grazer. Given her youth, we can probably assume she’s a friend or love interest to Billy Batson, or perhaps even a rival? I’d love to see her play someone like Chain Lightning, who is roughly the same age as the other kids, has powers that can seriously jack Shazam up, and suffers from multiple personality disorder.

Zegler is definitely a star on the rise. While we haven’t really seen her on the big screen yet, we know she could do a bang-up Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez if an AOC movie ever gets made.

Shazam: Fury of the Gods opens June 2nd 2023.

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.