Zachary Levi To Return To The Spy Comedy Genre In Lonely Island-Produced ‘Spy Guys’
Zachary Leviis going to know kung fu…again. TheShazam!star may seem like he was born to play a childlike superhero, but Levi will be returning the genre in which he belongs with the upcomingJeff Tomsic-helmedSpy Guys,as the lead of the action comedy about a sleek spy who is forced to rely on his moronic college friends. Levi would lead the cast in a production led by the comedy dream team of Lonely Island.Deadlinebroke the news that Zachary Levi is in talks with New Line Cinema to leadSpy Guys,a new action comedy from Tomsic, the director of last year’sTag. Per Deadline, here is the film’s longline:
Adam Sztykielpenned the script for the film, which is produced byJohn Rickard(Rampageand theHorrible Bossesfilms), and the Lonely Island team ofAndy Samberg, Jorma Taccone,andAkiva Schaffer.
These are a lot of big comedy names throwing their support behind Levi, who is having quite a year with a career-defining performance inShazam!and as a scene-stealing romantic interest in Amazon’sMarvelous Mrs. Maisel. Tomsic made his directorial debut with 2018’sTag, but is best known for his work on Comedy Central’sBroad CityandIdiotsitter, on which he is executive producer.
But it’s Levi’s return to the spy comedy genre that piques my interest. Levi had his breakout role in the NBC action-comedy seriesChuck, in which he starred as a computer geek who accidentally becomes an asset to the U.S. government. It was a silly, smart revamp of theGet Smartdynamic that allowed Levi to stretch his comedy chops and hone his charisma — something that he used to maximum effect inTangledand, of course,Shazam!It will be exciting to see him return to the spy comedy genre but in a reversed role: this time he’s playing the efficient super spy instead of the dorky nerd. It would be worth it to see him make a nod to this:
