After several delays, "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" is almost here,
and fans are hyped. Here's what you and your "Shazamily" need to know before the big premiere.
"Shazam! Fury of the Gods" has been in the production pipeline for quite some time.
The sequel was announced in April 2019 — right after the first film hit theaters. Of course,
we've been waiting for quite a while since then. What possibly
could have delayed the development of "Shazam 2?"
Well, possibly a pandemic that shuttered an entire industry ... and a massive company merger ... and
a complete restructuring of the DC Universe. You know — a few minor things here and there.
Originally, the movie was supposed to hit theaters on April 1, 2022,
but hey, April Fools! The film was then pushed back to November 4,
2022 before getting shuffled off to June 2, 2023, followed by a new date of December 16, 2022.
Not wanting to compete against the blue-skinned juggernaut that is "Avatar: The Way of Water,"
Warner Bros. pushed "Fury of the Gods" back yet again, kicking it over to December 21.
The sequel was eventually moved yet again to its (hopefully) final release date of March 17, 2023.
Granted, it's enough to give a DC fan some serious whiplash,
but we're pretty sure it will be worth the wait when the "Shazamily" soars into theaters.
In the first "Shazam!" film, we watched a young Billy Batson adopt
his new superhero persona and battle the evil Doctor Sivana,
all while coming to terms with his troubled past and finding solace with his new foster family.
Now, Billy and his siblings are out in the world,
fighting crime with the powers of literal gods. Naturally, Billy's got a lot to learn
about his new abilities — and also needs to deal with something of an existential
crisis — but things get a lot more complicated with the arrival of three Greek goddesses.
"The daughters of Atlas are coming to hunt us."
According to the official plot synopsis, they're on the hunt for "the magic stolen
from them long ago." That magic just so happens to give the Shazamily their powers.
Based on the official trailers, it looks like the goddesses will try to get their hands on a scepter
that looks an awful lot like the one belonging to the wizard who granted Billy his powers. It also
appears that scepter will give them the ability to steal the Shazamily's superhero abilities,
and it doesn't help matters any that two of the daughters, Hespera and Kalypso,
are bringing along a whole bunch of monsters to wage war on the world.
Interestingly, when it comes to comic book accuracy, the Daughters of Atlas are a bit of a
mixed bag. Atlas himself is a DC Comics character, although we don't know if he'll be appearing
in the movie, and so is Athena, who's more closely aligned with Wonder Woman on the page.
However, Hespera and Kalypso — while hailing from Greek mythology — are new to the DC mythos,
having never appeared in comic book form before. It'll be interesting to
see how these goddesses play out in the story, although we're guessing Athena
will eventually shift sides while her sisters will be pretty solidly bad guys.
There's no "Shazam!" without Zachary Levi. The adult version of the titular hero is perhaps the
funniest superhero in cinema, and that's thanks to Levi's natural wit and charms. Fortunately,
Levi will be once again donning the big red suit and accompanying
his teenage alter ego, Asher Angel as Billy Batson, in the upcoming movie.
"You want these powers? Come get 'em!"
As for the Greek goddesses, they'll be portrayed by titans of Hollywood.
The villainous Hespera will be played by the legendary Helen Mirren. Her sister,
Kalypso, will be portrayed by the one and only Lucy Liu.
The third goddess is Athena, and she'll be played by Rachel Zegler, who made a huge
Hollywood splash with her debut performance as Maria in Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story."
Character actor extraordinaire Djimon Hounsou will return as the wizard who gave Billy his superhero
powers, while Marta Milans and Cooper Andrews will return as Billy's loving foster parents.
David F. Sandberg broke onto the scene with one of the creepiest short films ever made — 2013's
"Lights Out." He then turned that eerie little film into a feature-length movie,
released in 2016. After that, he revisited the horror genre with
"Annabelle: Creation" before lending his talents to the original "Shazam!"
Now, Sandberg is back in the director's chair for "Shazam! Fury of the Gods."
Speaking with Total Film, the filmmaker explained the movie would be taking
a wider approach to the story and its characters than the first film, saying,
"It's still Shazam's movie, but it's also about the family. They've all been
superheroes for a while now, trying to stop crime and save people. But
they're not very good at it. The city has dubbed them the Philly Fiascos."
The original "Shazam!" had pretty much everything — laughter, tears, screams,
and explosions. All that goodness was largely thanks to screenwriter Henry Gayden, who's
also worked on projects like "Earth to Echo" and "There's Someone Inside Your House." Never fear,
Gayden is returning for part two, but he won't be working solo this time around.
Gayden is joined by Chris Morgan, which seems to indicate that "Fury of the Gods" will have a lot
more action. How so? Well, Morgan has penned the scripts for multiple entries in the "Fast
& Furious" franchise, including "Tokyo Drift," "Fast Five," "Furious 7," and "Hobbs & Shaw."
There's a lot changing in the world of DC. With James Gunn and Peter Safran in charge, the entire
universe is getting something of a reboot, with some superhero movies being canceled and new ones
on the way. So where does the "Shazam!" series fit into Gunn and Safran's plans for the future?
"A lot has changed in the last few years …"
While we don't know for sure if we're getting a "Shazam! 3," Zachary Levi has
commented on the situation. As covered by the Hollywood Reporter, Levi took to
Instagram in December 2022, defending the two new DC heads and asking fans to be a little
more open to their new direction. He also gave an update on his own status, saying,
"I have no idea what's ultimately going to happen to me. I think
I'm in a pretty good position. I think we made a pretty great movie,
and I think it's going to do reasonably well. I hope so! But again, regardless of that,
if they decide at some point [to recast me], then them's the breaks. That's how it goes."
That same month, a distressed fan on Twitter responded to a rumor that Levi would no longer
be Shazam, saying they would "throw hands" to protect Levi's place in the DC Universe.
The tweet caught Levi's attention, and the "Shazam!" actor gave this response:
"Oooh, I really wouldn't go believing everything
you see on the internet. I'm Gucci [...]. We all Gucci."
Hopefully, we'll figure out soon enough what Gunn and Safran have
in store for our literal man-child superhero.