Just days after the Zachary Levi-led Shazam! hit theaters in April 2019, New Line Cinema and DC decided to greenlight a sequel. While it took a little longer to get cameras rolling on said sequel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shazam! 2, officially titled Shazam! Fury of the Gods, finally began principal photography on May 26. Now as August comes to a close, director David F. Sandberg has announced that the next cinematic Shazam adventure has finished filming.
Like he did on the first Shazam! movie, David F. Sandberg has periodically shared teasing photos of the work being done on Shazam! Fury of the Gods over the last several months though. Today, though, he opted for what’s become one of the classic ways to commemorate the end a movie’s production: taking a picture of a clapboard. Here’s what Sandberg posted on Twitter:
It’s simple, but it gets the job done. But wait, there’s more! Over on Instagram, David F. Sandberg marked Shazam! Fury of the Gods filming by instead sharing a picture on one of the sets, which appears to be a room in a regular household destroyed by superhero and/or supervillain antics.
After a little over three months of shooting, Shazam! Fury of the Gods now moves to the postproduction phase, where the movie is edited together, visual effects are inserted, etc. However, with reshoots becoming more common in Hollywood blockbusters, it’s possible some time has been allotted for David F. Sandberg and other members of the cast and crew to reunite later down the line to record some extra footage. After all, Fury of the Gods doesn’t arrive until summer 2023, so it’s not like they’re rushing to get this movie completed.
While no specific plot details for Shazam! Fury of the Gods have been revealed yet, we do have a loose idea of what to expect. For one thing, rather than Asher Angel’s Billy Batson fighting the forces of evil like he did for most of the first movie, he’ll be accompanied by the other members of the Shazam Family, i.e. his now-superpowered foster siblings Freddy, Mary, Darla, Eugene and Pedro. We’ll also reunite with Djimon Honsou’s Wizard Shazam, who was believed to have died in the first movie, so either a flashback, hallucination or resurrection is in the cards.
As for new faces, we’ll meet Helen Mirren’s Hespera, Lucy Liu’s Kalypso and Rachel Zegler’s yet-to-be-named character, all of whom are the antagonistic daughters of Atlas, one of the ancient figures the Shazam heroes derive their powers. Alas, for those of you who were looking forward to a Dr. Sivana and Mr. Mind teacup after seeing the Shazam! mid-credits scene, Mark Strong told CinemaBlend in May that he will not appear in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. I guess we’ll have to wait until the hypothetical Shazam! 3 for that plot thread to be followed up on.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods will work its magic in theaters on June 2, 2023. If you’re curious about what else in coming down the DC Extended Universe pipeline, look through our upcoming DC Comics movies guide.
