'Shazam!' Star Zachary Levi Reveals Being 'Jealous' Of Ryan Reynolds

Zachary Levi, who is popularly known for his lead role in "Shazam!" admitted that he felt jealous of Ryan Reynolds because he got to play "Deadpool."

The 40-year-old actor noted he had wanted to play Deadpool for years. "For years I’ve wanted to be Deadpool," Levi revealed during DragonCon 2021, ScreenRant reported.

"I was so jealous that Ryan… he rocked that… when you see somebody do something that you’ve wanted to do for a long time, and they do it great, you’re like ‘kudos, rock ‘n roll,’" Levi said.

"Reed Richards would be kind of fun," the actor added. "But to be truthful, I don’t even really allow myself to go down those roads because I’m so good. I’m so set."

"The fact that I even get to be Captain Marvel, Shazam and Billy Batson, it’s such a fun dream role," he noted. "And it’s got so much different DNA than almost every other superhero," Levi further said.

Deadpool's character was originally created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld for "The New Mutants" comic book as a supervillain. However, the character slowly evolved as an iconic anti-hero due to his dark sense of humor.

The character first appeared in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" which was released in 2009. Shazam's character, on the other hand, was introduced in "Thor: Ragnarok" in 2017.

Levi got his first solo superhero movie in 2019 when he played the title role in "Shazam!" which was directed by David F. Sandberg.

The actor will star as sports professional Kurt Warner in "American Underdog" which is slated to release on Dec. 25. Levi will also feature in Jon Gunn's drama, "Unbreakable Boy," which is currently under post-production and slated to release in 2022. He will be back as Shazam in "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" which is scheduled for release in 2023.

Reynold's movie "Free Guy" was released last month. The "Deadpool" star will next be seen in the action flick "Red Notice." The movie, which will be out on Nov. 12, also stars Gal Gadot and Dwayne Johnson.