In early 2019, David F. Sandberg’s Shazam! turned out to be a wonderful surprise hit. The titular hero didn’t have the same kind of name recognition as fellow DC heroes like Batman and Superman, but the movie turned a lot of heads by being a charming, sweet, and creative origin story. Now anticipation for the sequel is sky high. The good news on that front is that Shazam! 2 is already deep in development, sporting the official title Shazam! Fury Of The Gods – which is what inspired us to put together this guide.
As we here at CinemaBlend tend to do with all of the biggest 2022 new movie releases, we’ve put together this feature gathering all of the information we know about Shazam! Fury Of The Gods thus far, including information from official studio releases, interviews, and more. So what’s the deal with the upcoming superhero movie? Read on to find out!
Shazam! Fury Of The Gods Opens December 21, 2022
Having finally gained some traction following the disaster that was 2017's Justice League, the DC Extended Universe has a number of extremely exciting titles coming out in the next couple of years – including Black Adam, The Flash, Aquaman, and The Blue Beetle – and as things currently stand, Shazam! Fury Of The Gods is positioned toward the middle of the schedule. Barring any changes (which it should be noted, are very possible), the sequel will be playing in theaters everywhere on December 21, 2022, just two months after Dwayne Johnson’s upcoming Black Adam movie arrives on the scene.
Zachary Levi, Lucy Liu, And Helen Mirren Lead The Shazam! Fury Of The Gods Cast
When Shazam! Fury of the Gods opens in theaters this holiday season, it will see the return of Zachary Levi as the titular hero and alter-ego of Billy Baton, who will again be portrayed by Asher Angel. The upcoming DC Comics sequel will also see the return of Jack Dylan Grazer as Frederick “Freddy” Freeman with his adult superhero form again being played by Adam Brody. Other members of Billy’s foster family who were magically transformed into superheroes in 2019’s Shazam! will return as well, with Ian Chen, Ross Butler, Faithe Herman, Meagan Good, and others all reprising their roles. Also returning will be Djimon Hounsou as the ancient wizard, Shazam.
There will also be some newcomers to the Shazam! Fury of the Gods cast, including some Hollywood heavy hitters. Lucy Liu, Helen Mirren, and Rachel Zegler also make their franchise debut as the various daughters of Atlas.
Shazam! Fury Of The Gods Will See Billy Batson Take On The Daughters Of Atlas
In July 2022, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Pictures gave fans their first look at the trailer for the upcoming Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which not only showed how Zachary Levi’s powerful superhero was handling working with his foster family (who are now also heroes in their own right), but also offered a glimpse at what kind of evil force he’ll have to vanquish before everything is said and done.
This time around, Shazam and company will be squaring off against the Daughters of Atlas, Hespera and Kalypso, played by Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu, respectively, who have more than a couple tricks up their sleeves. With all sorts of action-packed scenes involving the villainous family giving Shazam and company a run for their money, this is just a taste of what’s to come.
Shazam! Fury Of The Gods Has Already Wrapped Production
With an approaching release date and trailer featuring what appears to be completed special effects, it should come as no surprise that production has already wrapped on Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Cameras started rolling on the highly anticipated superhero sequel in May 2021, which was revealed by Zachary Levi in an Instagram post featuring some pretty sweet and appropriate footwear for the occasion.
Barely three months later, director David F. Sandberg made a social media post of his own on Twitter with an image of a Shazam! Fury of the Gods clapboard and the caption “And that’s a wrap!” on August 31, 2021. However, the work wasn’t finished then, as the movie would require extensive post-production work to complete those impressive visuals spotted in the film’s trailer.
David F. Sandberg Is Returning As Shazam! Fury Of The Gods’ Director
One could make a strong argument that in the last five years no filmmaker has seen their career blossom faster than David F. Sandberg’s. The director caught a whole lot of attention in 2016 with the release of his stellar horror film Lights Out, and within the next three years he completed work on both Annabelle: Creation and Shazam!. He’s since been making some long term plans recently, having signed on to direct a new scary movie titled The Culling, according to Deadline, but his immediate future is Shazam! Fury Of The Gods, as Sandberg signed a deal to return for the sequel and made it his next feature.
Black Adam Won’t Be In Shazam!
While the DC Extended Universe seems like it is slowing down its crossover plans for the time being, there are definitely some interesting things brewing with the development of both the Shazam! series and Dwayne Johnson’s powerful antihero arriving on October 21, 2022.
As comic book fans know, Black Adam is the primary antagonist of Shazam in the comics, and there have most certainly been talks about how the two characters will eventually clash on the big screen. Nothing has been confirmed at this point, but it doesn’t seem like Shazam! Fury Of the Gods will be the forum for that brawl.
During a Q&A session on his Instagram stories (via ComicBook.com) in June 2021, director David F. Sandberg was asked if Black Adam would be making an appearance in the upcoming Shazam! sequel, to which he responded by saying the character had his own movie.
With the sequel likely to flesh out the Shazam! universe, and the Black Adam solo feature serving to establish its titular character, it’s likely that the two leads won’t have their big showdown until probably 2024 at the earliest.
While we know quite a bit about Shazam! Fury of the Gods ahead of its December release, there are still a few things we don’t yet know, including its official rating (though it’s hard to imagine anything besides PG-13). But, while we wait for the movie (and its rating) why not go back and watch Shazam!, which is streaming on HBO Max (opens in new tab).
