While the future of the larger DC Extended Universe has more than a few big question marks, one beacon shining bright right now in the franchise is Shazam! While the 2019 solo film didn’t exactly become a box office phenomenon like Wonder Woman or Aquaman, it’s definitely one of the best superhero origin movies in recent years, and it has fans excited for what’s to come from Shazam! 2 – which is currently scheduled for release in November 2022. That in mind, now is probably a good time to get used to the name Mister Mind, as it looks like the character is being set up as a primary antagonist in the sequel.
First introduced back in 1943, Mister Mind has an impressively long history in comics, but the vast majority of movie-goers probably aren’t familiar with him. That’s a problem that we aim to fix with this feature, as we will highlight the key things that you should know about his background before Shazam! 2 kicks into high gear:
Mister Mind Is A Venusian Worm
With his slithering body, bright coloring, many appendages, and diminutive statute, Mister Mind looks quite a lot like an overgrown caterpillar – but don’t be mistaken. In the original comics he was introduced as an alien who originally traveled to Earth hatching schemes for invasion, but his plans fell apart when Shazam (or Captain Marvel, as he was originally known) teleported all of the worms into the depths of space. As you might imagine, this didn’t exactly invite Mister Mind to develop positive feelings about the superhero.
In more recent comics, however, Mister Mind’s backstory has been changed to have him be from one of the seven realms in the Magiclands. He used book learning and magic to get his revenge, eventually feeding his desire to control all of the Magiclands.
Mister Mind Is Constantly In Search Of A New Host Or A Way To Clone Himself
Being the only one of your kind isn’t exactly a pleasure, so one of Mister Mind’s principal motivations is to either clone himself, or create progeny (which are identical to him). Though he can reproduce asexually, the process still requires him to have a host – but the plus for him is that he has a special trick that’s good for getting people to bend to his will.
As His Name Implies, Mister Mind Has Powerful Psychic Abilities
Save for cases where irony is being employed, writers don’t typically give a character a name like “Mister Mind” unless there is something particularly special about their brain – and the worm-like DC Comics villain doesn’t disappoint. He is a powerful telepath who has the ability to take over the minds of those he targets. Combined with his tremendously loose morals, he is a significant danger despite his harmless looks.
Like A Caterpillar, Mister Mind Can Produce A Very Strong Silk
Mister Mind definitely doesn’t act like a typical caterpillar in most capacities, but the alien does share some traits with the insect. For example, the supervillain has the ability to produce a very strong silk that he can use to entrap his enemies like a spider. Here’s hoping we actually get to see that happen at some point in Shazam! 2.
Mister Mind Speaks Through A Talk Box
One of the drawbacks of being an alien worm is that Mister Mind doesn’t have a normal mouth through which he can speak – but he has that covered thanks to handy technology. From the very beginning, the character has always talked through a talk box that he keeps slung around his “neck” on his “chest.” The result is that there is a kind of static-y quality to his “voice,” but it gives him an easy means of communicating that doesn’t involve mental invasion. Speaking of his voice…
Mister Mind Is Voiced By Director David F. Sandberg In The Shazam! End Credits
If you carefully watched the entire end credits of Shazam! trying to find out the voice of Mister Mind, you walked away disappointed, as the identity of the actor was not revealed in the cast list. That’s because the character isn’t voiced by an “actor” in the traditional sense, but instead by director David F. Sandberg. It’s unknown at this point if he will wind up reprising the role in Shazam! 2, or if the project will cast somebody else, but we hope it winds up being the former.
Mister Mind Has Been Known To Team Up With Doctor Sivana
Going back to the start of Mister Mind’s existence, Doctor Sivana has been a pretty pivotal player – proof being that it was actually he who gave the alien worm his moniker. Both of them being psychotic geniuses, their work together isn’t without conflict, but having a common enemy in Shazam helps keep them bonded. Given the aforementioned scene in the end credits of the 2019 film, it’s expected that we will see a live-action team up of Mister Mind and Mark Strong’s Doctor Sivana in Shazam! 2.
Mister Mind Heads Up A Group Called The Monster Society Of Evil
While Mister Mind’s association specifically with Doctor Sivana goes back decades, the cue-ball megalomaniac isn’t the character’s only relationship. Going back to the mid-1940s, Mind brought together five other agents of malice to form the bluntly-named Monster Society Of Evil. Like any supervillain group, the lineup has changed greatly over the years, and it’s not too farfetched to think that we may be only a few years away from seeing the team brought into live-action for the first time.
Mister Mind Has A Higher Form
If you’ve taken away anything from this piece, it should be that Mister Mind is a formidable threat despite his size – but the thought we will leave you with is that the character’s worm-like form isn’t actually his final stage of biological development. If allowed to live for long enough, he eventually transforms into a Hyperfly, which is a being not only massive in scale, but has the capacity to literally eat space and time. How could that idea being translated in a live-action blockbuster? Hopefully we’ll find out one day.
Shazam! 2 is currently scheduled for release on November 4, 2022. We here at CinemaBlend will continue to track the project’s progress as we get closer to the production stage, and will certainly keep you posted regarding updates about Mister Mind’s potential expanded role.
