Zachary Levi as Shazam!(Daniel Marsula/Post-Gazette illustration)

When Zachary Levi sets foot in Pittsburgh for the first time this weekend, he already will have his stamp in some corner of your entertainment life.

Levi, who headlines Wizard World Pittsburgh’s return to Downtown’s David L. Lawrence Convention Center, is an all-ages, all-bases-covered celebrity. He acts and sings on stage and screen, and he is the newest movie superhero in the DC Universe. 

He’s made his mark from Broadway (a Tony nominee for “She Loves Me”) to Disney animation (the voice of Flynn Rider in “Tangled”); from the Emmy-winning “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” to his biggest imprint: nerd hero.

The latter covers the NBC series “Chuck,” about a reluctant spy with a technically souped-up brain, and his current title, the star of “Shazam!” — at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, one of the best-reviewed films in a realm that includes Batman, Superman and Aquaman.

“DC has found a comic torchbearer of pure heart to illuminate the path of righteousness ahead,” Matthew Norman of the London Evening Standard wrote of “Shazam!” 

The movie, released in April, was an origin story, in which 14-year-old Freddy is given an ancient power that morphs him into a grown-up (Levi) with superpowers, although he’s still a teen in heart and mind.

Donning the cape and spandex suit of a superhero, “It’s exactly what you’d think,” Levi says by phone, on his way to work on his real-life muscles at the gym. “I got the job because I never grew up, and I don’t intend to.”

Levi, 38, is talking about maintaining the “wonder and awe” of youth, not shirking his adult responsibilities. But as someone who grew up reading comic books and playing video games — “still do” — he gets giddy about adding Shazam to his role call.

“The fact that I’ve gotten to play roles like ‘Chuck’ and Flynn Rider in ‘Tangled’ … and all that culminating in being a bona fide superhero as the titular character of a legit DC superhero franchise? And I get to play one that’s so interesting and dynamic and different, because he’s 14 inside? It’s dreamy,” he says.

In tracing Levi’s path to “Shazam!” all roles inevitably lead back to “Chuck.” Levi starred in the series for five seasons, the fifth courtesy of a fan campaign after the show was canceled.

“Chuck” put Levi on the map as an actor who could carry a TV series and inspire adoring fans. The show also introduced Australian actress Yvonne Strahovski (“A Handmaid’s Tale”), among others, and featured a parade of nerd-hero guest stars. If we’re name dropping, Chuck’s mother and father were played by Linda Hamilton (“Terminator”) and Scott Bakula (“Quantum Leap,” “Enterprise”).

The show ended its run on Jan. 27, 2012, by throwing its fans for a loop: It hit the reset button on the romance between Chuck and Sara (Strahovski) that was the cornerstone of the show.

Levi admitted that the ending has been polarizing and repeated what he has said at many conventions: He intends for there to be a “Chuck” movie — “movies, if the first one does well” — with the original cast and a resolution to that ending.

“I have been really, really fortunate that almost every project I have been a part of is something that has possessed a special magic about it — even if they are not understood in the moment,” Levi says, noting that ratings for “Chuck” at the time of its cancellation would make the series “a smash hit” by today’s network TV standards. Also today, through DVDs, streaming services and social media-sharing, fan bases for older shows such as “Chuck” continue to grow.

Levi’s fans come at him from many directions, including his arc as a love interest for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” which won a 2018 Emmy as outstanding comedy series in its first season and is nominated again this year. 

And now, he can add “superhero” to his Playbill bio.

“ ‘Shazam!’ has become a hugely beautiful thing,” he says. “We didn’t break any box-office records [$364 million domestically], but I think Home Entertainment is going to be a huge thing for us because it is more family in its orientation — I don’t call it ‘family friendly’ so much as family accessible. It’s full of joy, and that really resonates with people.”

He is no longer surprised at what fans want to talk about at conventions — it might be “Chuck” or “Shazam!” or it could even be “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.”

“I’m just grateful that people want to have a moment with me,” he says. “It’s quite literally one of the most absurd jobs in the world. I sit comfortably, sip water, listen to my music and have lovely people wait hours at a time to pay very good money so I can scribble on pictures of my face.

“It’s a very surreal kind of experience but a very special one if you allow it to be,” he continues. “It’s quite humbling to know people care enough ... that they want to spend that time and money and energy to tell you as much and walk away with a little keepsake that means something to them. I don’t take any of that lightly.”

Those are not just words. He puts his own time, energy and money into giving fans the kind of experience that would excite and delight him as a fan.

Levi is the founder of the lifestyle brand Nerd HQ and Conversations for a Cause, which has created celebrity-infused experiences and raised funds for Operation Smile, which helps children born with cleft palate. Levi describes those Nerd HQ party/panels as a cross between TED Talks, “Inside the Actor’s Studio” and “Between Two Ferns.”

He arrives in Pittsburgh having hit the pause button on Nerd HQ events, but he plans to come back strong and as “a full nonprofit.” Those party/panels with “people I have mad respect for” have included Bryan Cranston, Guillermo del Toro, Tom Hiddleston, Nathan Fillion, Tatiana Maslany and “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman, who is currently in Pittsburgh filming August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”

“An audience gives you trust and listens to what you have to say. You’re going to be given a platform regardless, so the question is, what are you going to use your platform for? I want to use my platform to help people feel that they are as seen, as loved and as valued as I possibly can,” he says. “And, of course, the kid in me is always going to go for the fun.”

Levi expects that he’ll be having fun as Shazam again in the not-too-distant future. In interviews when he was host of the 2019 MTV Movie & TV Awards — yeah, he did that, too — he said writing is underway for the sequel. In the meantime, he is attached to several projects and would consider a return to Broadway in a nonmusical, to cross that off his bucket list.

Closest to his heart, though, are the 75 acres he has purchased outside of Austin, Texas, where he makes his home. 

“My life’s work, more than anything, will be developing [the property] to be a better way of life for a lot of people.” Details are forthcoming, he says, adding, “That’s what I want to do more than anything, and there’s a lot to do.”

Sharon Eberson: seberson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1960. Twitter: @SEberson_pg. Sign up for the PG performing arts newsletter Behind the Curtain at Newsletter Preferences.

First Published: July 23, 2019, 11:30 a.m.
Updated: July 23, 2019, 2:23 p.m.