Having made his mark as Raphael in both 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and its recent follow-up, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows, actor Alan Ritchson has become something of a favourite among fans of superhero movies. That being the case, it comes as no surprise to find that a seemingly innocent question and answer on his Twitter feed as cranked the comic book movie rumour mill into overdrive, as he appears to have confirmed that he will play the titular hero in the long-awaited DC film, Shazam.

We’ve known for several years that the film adaptation of Shazam is a labour of love for Dwayne Johnson, and he has repeatedly confirmed that he will be playing Black Adam – the ancient, powerful arch-nemesis of Billy Batson, who becomes the superhero Shazam after magical powers are bestowed upon him. There has never been much discussion of who would fill the role of Batson, however, which gave rise to the theory that Johnson would, in fact, be playing both roles.

Alan Ritchson has given the rumour pot a good stir now, though, as a fan asked him directly on Twitter if he would be playing Batson, to which he replied in the affirmative.

Clearly, this could easily be an example of an actor engaging in some humorous banter. It seems somewhat out of character for DC to allow such information to be leaked in this way, given the three-year-or-more period that Jason Momoa had to keep his Aquaman casting under his signature hat. However, Ritchson’s name has been mentioned with regard to Shazam with increasing frequency, so could it be that Black Adam has finally found his champion? Watch this space for further developments.