Zachary Levi wants Shazam! sequel to come out before 2023

Zachary Levi wants 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods' to be released sooner than 2023.

The 41-year-old actor is reprising his role as Billy Batson/Shazam in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) sequel and admits that he wants audiences to see it before the scheduled release in June 2023 as he thinks that it is better than the original.

In an interview with Collider, Zachary said: "I will say that I genuinely – and this is not just lip service – I'm really proud of the first one, I think we made a really, really good movie.

"I think the second one is better. I think that we had more time, we had more budget. We had, essentially, the entire cast returning, and we all knew our characters a little bit more; we could kind of sit into them a little bit more. Henry Gayden, who wrote the first script, wrote the second, and he did a fantastic job doing so."

The 'Thor: Ragnarok' star believes that the younger members of the cast growing older and the presence of Dame Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu as villains will make for an even better sequel.

Zachary explained: "Everything just clicked even a little bit more and a little bit more. And also the kids have grown up a little bit more, so even the sensibilities of them become even slightly more mature which brings it closer to my or other people's adult minds, so there's even more connection there, I think.

"The action's great, the comedy's great, the relationships are great. The bad guys, Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu, are fantastic. I'm very proud of it. I want it to come out sooner than June of 2023."

Despite his frustrations, Levi can understand why DC are holding back with the release of the movie.

He shared: "I get it; studios have to make a concerted effort about not cannibalising your own titles. You can't release them too close to each other, otherwise you might cannibalise each other. Plus, you have to take into consideration all the other studios' releases and all that stuff.

"So that's where it is – but, you never know, maybe it'll come out sooner. Here's hoping and praying, I hope."