Nodding to 'Big,' 'Shazam!' brings the superhero down a size

If you didn’t sense the connection immediately in “Shazam!” you will by the time a giant floor piano makes a cameo.“One of the beautiful things about this movie is you can pitch it in three words,” says Zachary Levi, who stars as the supersized version of Billy Batson, played by Asher Angel as a kid.“Shazam!,” which opens April 5, is the latest superhero movie to look further afield than comic book mythology for inspiration. Just as the gritty Wolverine thriller “Logan” drew from Westerns like “Shane,” and “Black Panther” was built as a Bond-like spy movie, the PG-13-rated “Shazam!” has its DNA rooted in 1980s adventure-comedies, especially the Amblin Entertainment variety like “Goonies” and “Gremlins.”The superhero is, increasingly, a Trojan Horse in spandex.“People are understanding that you can tell a lot of different types of stories under the superhero banner,” says “Shazam!” producer Peter Safran, who also produced “Aquaman” and who manages “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn. Where other comic-book movies are otherworldly, “Shazam!” and its hero are gleefully goofy.“I feel bad for a lot of other actors who end up being superheroes,” says Levi, whose breakthrough series, the spy comedy “Chuck,” had some of the same flavor. It’s not like you have references in other movies.”The 38-year-old Levi (“Tangled,” ″The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) initially turned down the audition, skeptical anything would come of it.“I asked my agent, ‘Aren’t they looking for huge jacked dudes or at very least very famous ones?’” says Levi.