"Shazam 2: Fury of the Gods" Movie Preview

Intro

In our newest Original, we are pleased to present you once again a movie from the DCEU: "Shazam! Fury of the Gods". Almost three years have passed since the release of the first part and slowly but surely fans are looking for a follow-up from Billy Batson and the like. You will not have to wait too much longer for the theatrical release since it is scheduled for this coming December. Which is why we highly recommend this latest movie preview of "Shazam! Fury of the Gods". Find out everything you need to know about the plot, the cast and the production. 

Story Part 1

First of all, let's recap the events of "Shazam" from 2019 for a brief moment. The plot revolves around Billy Batson, a 14-year-old teenager who is looking for his parents. After a stay in a children's home, he is taken in by the Vasquez family and is introduced to his new siblings Eugene, Darla, Pedro, Mary and Freddy. Billy quickly becomes friends with Freddy in particular. At one point, he comes into contact with the wizard Shazam, who chooses Billy as his new champion after many unworthy candidates. This comes with the fact that Billy can transform himself into the mighty hero Shazam at any time by uttering his name. With his friend Freddy, he soon finds out the full extent of his new abilities. These include, for example, superhuman speed and strength, resistance to bullets and fire, and the ability to fly. Actually, Shazam is an acronym, as all the letters of the word stand for the initial letters of six deities, each of which lends him a different skill: Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury. Billy has lots of fun with his new superpowers. However, being a superhero is not only about fun and games, but also about fighting evil. In "Shazam", the evil also has a name, and that happens to be Dr. Thaddeus Sivana. The latter was rejected by the wizard and instead holds the power of the seven deadly sins. The scientist also has it in for Shazam, because he too wants to acquire his superpower. The situation thus continues to worsen, and finally Dr. Sivana has no qualms about dragging Billy's new family into it. At the end of the movie, Dr. Sivana and his henchmen are defeated by Shazam and the Marvel family, which leaves room for a new villain.

Now that you can roughly remember the events of the first part, it is time to talk about the plot of "Shazam! Fury of the Gods". In fact, the people in charge are still being extremely vague when it comes to the plot, but that won't stop us from giving you the best theories about what will happen in "Shazam! Fury of the Gods". 

Plot Theories

First of all, let's clarify the question of who will be considered for the role of the new antagonist. It is pretty much clear that the main villain will be none other than Mister Mind. This was not only evident from a mid-credits scene of "Shazam", but also from the comics, where he has been known since the 1940s. Originally, he is just a two-inch alien worm endowed with superhuman intelligence. In said scene, we hear and see him making contact with Sivana in a jail cell. Mister Mind reveals that HE names the Gods and not the other way around and that he also looks forward to the fun the two will have together. In addition, the supervillain is the founder of the Monster Society of Evil in the comics, a group of over forty of Captain Marvel's worst enemies, as named by Shazam in the comics. Among them are Dr. Sivana and other creatures like Mister Atom or King Kull. Most interestingly, real people also play a role in the comics, as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini are also part of the Monster Society of Evil and were subject to Mister Mind's command. This, by the way, also extends to a deep mental level, since in the comics Mister Mind has also mastered the art of telepathy. Incidentally, before the Crisis on Infinite Earths comics from 1985 and 1986, he only mastered this by making physical contact with his victim. After that, Mister Mind existed in a slightly modified version. Most recently, he was also introduced into the current "DC Rebirth" reality of DC comics. In this third version of Mister Mind, he is no longer a child of the planet Venus, but a magical being trapped in a bottle by the Circle of Eternity. The alien origin has been completely dropped, and instead the Circle of Eternity concludes that Mister Mind was once a bookworm who got his supernatural abilities by eating magic scrolls. How exactly Mister Mind will appear in "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" is not clear, but we are very excited about the new supervillain, who is considered one of the most powerful in the entire DC universe. 

Another good hint at the plot is the official title of the sequel: "Shazam! Fury of the Gods". In fact, it is not yet officially known who is meant by the aforementioned Gods. Fans widely agree that a God on the side of the bad guys might be a bit too mighty for Shazam, who gets his powers from numerous Gods himself. However, since the title "Fury of the Gods" refers to a certain anger of the deities, it could also be that they are mad at Shazam and want to take away his powers. For that to happen, however, they would first have to return from the dead, since the Gods in question died a long time ago. Nevertheless, it cannot be ruled out that the sequel will close a gap at this point, which would allow the powerful deities to return. 

A multiverse storyline for "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" is likewise conceivable. Already in the first part, the Rock of Eternity plays a big role and it offers more than enough possibilities to include the multiverse. The rock was originally the home of the wizard Shazam and is the source of magic itself. It is located in the middle of the multiverse and is a mysterious place. In "Shazam" we see Billy and his alter ego try to escape from the rock and end up in a room with countless doors to other dimensions. The room for exploration is of course huge, after all, all existing DC universes are theoretically open to the protagonists. Yet the big multiverse bang is presumably going to come with the upcoming "The Flash". Its release date is set for June 23, 2023, which is after "Shazam 2".

The Cast

Moving on to the cast of "Shazam! Fury of the Gods". Coming back are the two main actors Zachary Levi as Shazam and Asher Angel as the slightly older Billy Batson. Plans are also being made to have Billy's foster family return in both old and new form, meaning both the siblings and parents, as well as the adult hero versions of the kids. Incidentally, director David F. Sandberg also posted this set-up in June 2021, pre-empting any leaks and posting a picture of the aforementioned characters himself, including their superhero outfits, on Twitter. In addition to Levi and Angel, sure to join the cast are Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy, Djimon Hounsou as wizard Shazam, Helen Mirren as Hespera, Lucy Liu as Kalypso and Rachel Zegler as the still unknown daughter of Atlas.

Production

The plot of "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" was already put on paper by Henry Gayden shortly after the success of the first part. It was also quickly clear that both director David F. Sandberg and lead actor Zachary Levi would return. After a postponement due to the pandemic, pre-production began in the summer of 2020, although the first take was not shot until May 2021. Filming then lasted until August 2021, and a December 21, 2022 release was realistically promised. In the process, the theatrical release was pushed forward by five days to avoid direct competition with Disney's "Avatar 2: The Way of Water".

Latest News

At CinemaCon at the end of April, there was new footage of "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" on display. According to eyewitness reports, the new teaser shows the protagonist Shazam on a date with Wonder Woman in Paris. At least that's what we are supposed to think at first glance, in fact it is not an appearance of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, but an illusion of the wizard who has invaded Billy's dreams in order to warn him. He is being pursued by the daughters of Atlas, whose first letter also stands for the A in Shazam. And at least three of the daughters are antagonists in the upcoming film. They are also said to be seen in a fight with Shazam in the teaser. At the end, Billy's superpowered siblings from the first part are seen rushing to his aid. So we can expect some action - we are excited!

Outro

What do you guys think about our theories on "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" and which DC characters can you still imagine appearing in the franchise? And what do you even think of the prequel? Feel free to let us know in the comments! By December 21, 2022 at the latest, we will know exactly what to expect in the DC sequel!