Zachary Levi was a part of the MCU long before being cast as Shazam for the DC Universe. The actor appeared in two Marvel movies as part of the Asgardian Warrior Three. Levi was first cast in the role of Fandral in 2011's Thor.
However, the actor dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts with the third season of Chuck. Josh Dallas was tapped to replace Levi in the movie, who was unable to return as the Asgardian in Thor: Dark World.
Dallas was unable to return as the Asgardian in Thor: Dark World. Levi returned to the role, but the actor revealed on the Happy, Sad, Confused Podcast that Feige promised him a more prominent role in the second Thor movie, which did not happen.
"Feige is like, 'Hey, would Zach want to take this role again?'" Levi said. "And to be honest, look… and I insisted on talking to Kevin about it, for two reasons. One, I saw the first movie, and I didn't really feel like the Warriors Three were utilized in that great of a way."
He adds, "And I was like, 'Is that going to be the case again, because if it is, I don't really want to do that, you know?' And he's like, 'No, no, no, it's gonna be a huge part of this movie.' Not so much, as it turned out."