Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the sequel to 2019's Shazam!, will feature the return of several main characters. Zachary Levi (Shazam), Asher Angel (Billy Batson) and Jack Dylan Grazer (Freddy Freeman) are just a few of the familiar faces set to appear in the upcoming film. This time, they'll be joined by a handful of new ones, including Lucy Liu.
In a hilarious reveal, director David F. Sandberg reacted to Lucy Liu’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods casting on Twitter with a single image.
This, in my opinion, is exactly the correct reaction you should have when learning that Lucy Liu is going to be in your movie.
The excitement is more than warranted. After all, the famous actress is known for countless films. This includes Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, Vol. 1, McG’s Charlie’s Angels, and Claire Scanlon’s Set It Up, and the list goes on. That’s not to mention her TV work, such her stint as Joan Watson on CBS’s modern take on Sherlock Holmes, Elementary, or her time on Ally McBeal as Ling Woo. For the latter, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods will be Lucy Liu’s first superhero film. That’s not to say she can’t fight like a superhero: remember the time Liu duked it out with Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. The always-capable actress did those insane stunts herself. Or maybe you recall her various showdowns with the bad guys in Charlie’s Angels, where she left everyone in the dust. Now that we know she’ll be playing the villain Kalypso in Fury of the Gods, we can only hope she’ll be in the center of the action.
The original Shazam! movie was also directed by David F. Sandberg. The movie told the story of Billy Batson, a 14-year-old foster kid who, thanks to an ancient wizard (Djimon Hounsou), gets the ability to turn into an adult superhero (played by Zachary Levi). The catch? Billy still thinks and acts like a teenager. That’s all well and good until Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (played by Mark Strong), the wizard’s earlier pick to be his champion, emerges looking for vengeance.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is reportedly expected to start filming this, with a theatrical release date of June 2, 2023. And Lucy Liu isn’t the only new addition: Dame Helen Mirren will appear as Hespera, the sister to Liu’s Kalypso. If only we could make this movie appear sooner by saying "Shazam!" As always, stay locked on CinemaBlend for updates on this sequel, and other DC Comics movies that are on the way.
