Ahead of her film debut as Maria Vasquez in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story, it was announced that Rachel Zegler would star in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. However, we still don’t know who she’s playing in the sequel to 2019’s Shazam!, which is something director David F. Sandberg decided to have a little fun with earlier today. The Fury of the Gods filmmaker shared some fake casting news that briefly had us going, and Zegler had a wonderful response to this.
On his Twitter page, David F. Sandberg shared a video of himself voting in a fan poll speculating on Rachel Zegler’s role in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, with the options including Wonder Girl, Hawkgirl, Tawky Tawny and “some random.” Sandberg looked over at a totally real script for Fury of the Gods, then went back to the poll to vote for Tawky Tawny, the anthropomorphic tiger who’s been part of Shazam lore for decades. See for yourself!
pic.twitter.com/WdQpMDmvV4March 14, 2022
While at first glance, it might seem like David F. Sandberg was dropping some major character information, upon looking more closely at the script page, this doesn’t appear to be the real deal. Having a Rachel Zegler-played Tawky Tawny in human form promoting Kellog’s cereals, only for Jack Dylan Grazer’s Freddy Freeman to counter that they live in a General Mills household, reads as way too ridiculous, which is saying a lot for a movie featuring adolescents who can turn into superheroes by saying a literally magic word. There’s also the fact that along with commenting “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA,” Zegler also said this to Sandberg:
david you’re my hero i think
So for now, we’re still in the dark on how Rachel Zegler fits into the Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ picture. The only clue we have to work with is that she’ll be a daughter of Atlas, one of the legendary figures from whom Billy Batson and the other members of the Shazam Family gain their special abilities. That said, it remains to be seen whether Zegler’s character will cause trouble with her sisters, Helen Mirren’s Hespera and Lucy Liu’s Kalypso, or if she’ll be a force for good. Either way, don’t get your hopes up of seeing her turn into a walking and talking tiger.
Although the Shazam! mid-credits scene set the stage for Mark Strong’s Dr. Sivana to team up with the super-intelligent caterpillar called Mister Mind, Strong informed CinemaBlend that he will not appear in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Instead, two of Atlas’ daughters will be our chief antagonists. Beyond that, specific story details for Fury of the Gods are being kept under lock and key. That said, another way the sequel will stand out from its predecessor is through Grace Fulton playing both Mary Bromfield’s human and superhero forms, as opposed to Michelle Borth returning to play the latter.
Originally scheduled for July 2, 2023, Shazam! Fury of the Gods has now been moved up to December 16 of this year as part of the latest DC Films scheduling shakeup. Take a look through the upcoming DC movies lineup to see what else is on the horizon in this corner of the superhero movie market.
