Rachel Zegler to star in Shazam: Fury of the Gods

Rachel Zegler has signed up for 'Shazam: Fury of the Gods'.

The 19-year-old actress will take on a "key role" in the DC motion picture, which was recently pushed back to June 2023.

Zegler - who stars as Maria in the upcoming 'West Side Story' remake - wrote on Twitter: "i am in my key role in shazam 2 era (sic)"

Details of the character are being kept under wraps, but the star felt "supremely blessed" from DC fans following the casting reaction.

Zegler tweeted: "dc fans, thank you for this warm welcome. i am feeling so supremely blessed. (sic)"

'Shazam: Fury of the Gods' - a follow up to 2019 superhero film 'Shazam!' - was due to drop on 4 November 2022, but another DC movie, 'The Flash', has now taken its place.

Zachary Levi is to reprise his role as the titular hero in the DC Extended Universe motion picture, which will also star Adam Brody, Jack Dylan Grazer, Marta Milans, Asher Angel, and Faithe Herman.

Shazam - who was also known as Captain Marvel - was created by C.C. Beck and writer Bill Parker back in 1939 and first appeared in Whiz Comics #2 a year later.

Rights to the character were obtained by DC Comics in the 1970s.

Shazam is really a teenage boy called Billy Batson - played by Angel in the 2019 blockbuster - who can transform into an adult superhero by uttering the magic word "Shazam", which is an acronym of the ancient world gods and historical figures: Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury.