After nearly 80 years of adventures in comic books, film serials, TV shows and video games, Shazam (or as he was once known, Captain Marvel) finally scored his own movie in 2019. Just days after Shazam! hit theaters, New Line Cinema announced a sequel was in development, which was revealed at last year’s DC FanDome to be titled Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Naturally plenty of familiar faces will be back for Shazam! 2, but today brings word about the first newcomer in the sequel’s cast.
According to The Wrap, Rachel Zegler has been tapped to play a “key role” in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, although no details about the character were revealed. If the name doesn’t sound familiar, that’s because Zegler hasn’t actually appeared in a movie yet, having primarily acted on stage and shown off her singing talents on YouTube. However, Zegler’s about to make a big splash in the cinematic space, as she’s playing Maria in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story. So to jump from that to Fury of the Gods just goes to show how quickly her film career is taking off.
Without any information to work with, it’s hard to say who Rachel Zegler is playing in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, although given her age, it would make sense if she was one of the classmates of the Shazam family members. Then again, since this is described as a “key role,” I imagine she’s more involved with the action than just attending the same school as Billy Batson, Freddy Freeman and the others. Perhaps she’s playing one of the sequel’s titular deities, or maybe her character is someone not traditionally connected to the Shazam corner of the DC universe.
Regardless, this at least gives us a new piece to fit into the Shazam! Fury of the Gods puzzle. Naturally Rachel Zegler won’t be the only new face within the sequel, but since Fury of the Gods is still a long way off from shooting, who knows when we’ll receive the next bit of casting information. Of course, one big difference this time around is rather than Billy Batson operating solo as a superhero, his foster siblings now share his incredible abilities. So whatever threats rear their head in Fury of the Gods, Billy won’t have to handle them alone.
Again, we don’t have any official plot information concerning Shazam! Fury of the Gods yet, but the Shazam! mid-credits scene laid the groundwork for Dr. Sivana and Mr. Mind to team up to conquer the Seven Realms. There’s also a Black Adam spinoff in the works starring Dwayne Johnson, but it’s unclear when he and Shazam will actually cross paths in the DC Extended Universe. Behind the scenes, David F. Sandberg and Henry Gayden are returning to direct and write the screenplay, respectively.
Assuming there aren’t more delays on the horizon, Shazam! Fury of the Gods will storm into theaters on June 2, 2023. Those of you curious about what else the DCEU has in store are welcome to browse through our DC movies guide for that information.
