In 2019, DC Studios released Shazam! after several years of production. The film, which served as the seventh installment of the then-DC Extended Universe, went on to gross over $360 million on a budget of $100 million. It was also well-received by critics, many of whom praised its tone, actors, and directors. The film’s success led to a spin-off, Black Adam, which was released last year, and a sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods is slated to arrive in cinemas this month.
During a recent interview with Total Film magazine, David F. Sandberg, who directed 2019’s Shazam! as well as its forthcoming sequel, discussed his experience as the film’s director. In his words, "It’s like a mini-Avengers movie… That’s how I saw it because there are so many characters. You have all these heroes, you have the villains, you have the monsters… It’s a lot of movie packed into its runtime. And it’s complicated. Just shooting and staging up to 11 characters in a scene... Where do you put everyone? It’s really hard!"
Sandberg also revealed that, compared to the first film, Fury of the Gods is bigger than its predecessor in every possible way, including scale and scope. He revealed they had more resources to work with which enabled them to make a film that is capable of competing with other superhero films for action and scale. Despite the bigger budget, Sandberg stated that Fury of the Gods is still very much a film about a kid and his family.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods will pick up from where its predecessor left off. The film will follow Billy Batson, now on the brink of adulthood, as he navigates the fear of losing his family and juggles the demands of leading a regular life and being a superhero. It will see him face off against the Daughters of Atlas who are bent on destroying the world with an ancient weapon.
Zachary Levi and Asher Angel reprise their roles as Batson and Shazam from the original title, while Adam Brody and Jack Dylan Grazer, Ross Butler and Ian Chen, Meagan Good and Faithe Herman, Grace Fulton, and Djimon Hounsou also return as Frederick Fredy Freeman, Eugene Choi, Darla Dudley, Mary Bromfield, and the wizard Shazam respectively. Rachel Zegler, Lucy Liu, and Helen Mirren will join the film’s cast as the Daughters of Atlas.
In other DC news, James Gunn and his DC Studios co-chair Peter Safran recently revealed the first part of their DC Universe content slate. The roster includes five films and five television series that will be released over the next five years. However, the roster did not include another Shazam installment which would seem to suggest that this installment is the final one.
By the way, Zachary Levi got in some trouble recently. The 42-year-old actor appeared to mock Britney Spears over her conservatorship, which led to online backlash. He, and the rest of those involved with Fury of the Gods, will be hoping that fans’ displeasure doesn’t spill over and affect the film’s box office performance.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods will arrive in cinemas on March 17.
