In 2019, the DC Comics superhero formerly known as Captain Marvel finally scored his own feature-length film eight decades after he first appeared in the pages of Whiz Comics #2. Shazam! was met with with a lot of critical praise and went on to make $366 million at the worldwide box office, so New Line Cinema swiftly greenlit a sequel. By DC FanDome 2020, the project once known as Shazam! 2 was officially titled Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and it’s assembled an impressive cast.
Although the Shazam! mid-credits scene teased an alliance between Mark Strong’s Doctor Sivana and the super-intelligent caterpillar known as Mister Mind, it’s since been revealed they will not appear in Shazam! Fury of the Gods (unless the duo is secretly cameoing). Instead, the Shazam family will face new threats in the sequel, but before we discuss them, let’s go over the familiar faces who are returning for the sequel.
Asher Angel/Zachary Levi
Hey, it wouldn’t be a Shazam! movie without our central protagonist, Billy Batson, played in regular form by Asher Angel and in superhero form by Chuck’s Zachary Levi. The character was selected by the wizard also called Shazam to be his new champion millennia after his previous champion, Black Adam, became corrupted (we’ll meet that Dwayne Johnson-portrayed anti-hero in summer 2022). But along with becoming a superhero, Billy also embraced his new family during Shazam!, and during the battle with Sivana and the Seven Deadly Sins, he shared his amazing abilities with his foster siblings. Now they’re superheroes just like him, so he won’t have to deal with the villains who surface in Shazam! Fury of the Gods alone.
Jack Dylan Grazer/Adam Brody
After being transformed into a superpowered adult, Billy sought the help of his new foster brother, Jack Dylan Grazer’s Freddy Freeman, expert on all things superhero-related, on getting the hang of these powers. Thanks to Freddy’s videos, Billy in his mighty adult form became a celebrity in Philadelphia, although the two boy’s friendship briefly became strained when Billy started irresponsibly using his powers, both to earn money and not prioritizing the well-being of innocents near him. Luckily, not only did these two end up reconciling, but like the other siblings, Freddy became Shazam-ified, with The O.C.’s Adam Brody playing his adult self. It was especially nice to see Freddy, who requires a crutch to walk in his normal form, was the first of the newly-minted members of the Shazam Family to start flying. It was also great to see Brody in superhero garb after he missed out on playing The Flash in the scrapped movie Justice League: Mortal.
Grace Fulton
The eldest member of the Shazam Family, Grace Fulton’s Mary Bromfield was applying to CalTech when we first met her in Shazam! and later on she was accepted. However, this academic institution was on the other side of the country, and Mary was saddened at the prospect of being so far away from her family. Since Mary’s back for Shazam! Fury of the Gods, it’s a good bet that if she is attending college, it’s somewhere close to home since she’s still battling the forces of evil with her siblings. Although Hawaii 5-0’s Michelle Borth played Mary’s Shazam-ified form in the first Shazam! movie, Fulton is pulling double duty as both civilian and superhero Mary in Fury of the Gods.
Faithe Herman/Meagan Good
Faithe Herman’s Darla Dudley was the second person to learn that Billy Batson could turn into Shazam, and while she has a penchant for spoiling secrets, she managed to keep mum on this until Mary figured it out herself. Think Like A Man’s Meagan Good was cast to play the superhero version of Darla, and did a great job emulating the girl’s enthusiasm and love for her family. Darla also got the hang of super speed… well, quickly, upon being bestowed with the Shazam magic.
Ian Chen/Ross Butler
Like his comic book counterpart, Ian Chen’s Eugene Choi knows his way around computers, to the point that he was able to find the address of Billy Batson’s biological mother and learn that Billy’s father was in prison. Upon becoming a superhero, the adult Eugene was played 13 Reasons Why’s Ross Butler, and was the first of Billy’s siblings who learned how to conjure lightning.
Jovan Armand/D.J. Cotrona
The shyest of Billy Batson’s foster siblings, Jovan Armand Pedro Peña was the one who spotted Billy’s discarded notebook chronicling his search for his mother. Pedro was also working out to get “swole,” making it especially fitting that after going through the Shazam transformation, he was the one who relied chiefly on super strength. G.I. Joe: Retaliation’s D.J. Cotrona played the adult Pedro, marking his return to the DC Comics space after he nearly played Superman in Justice League: Mortal.
Djimon Hounsou
Guardians of the Galaxy’s Djimon Hounsou starred in Shazam! as the wizard Shazam, who was once part of the Council of Wizards at the Rock of Eternity. However, after the other members were killed by the Seven Deadly Sins freed by Black Adam, Shazam imprisoned his former champion and spent centuries searching for someone pure of heart to inherit his powers. Thaddeus Sivana was one of the candidates, but when the boy became tempted by the Eye of Sin, the wizard sent him back. Decades later, and after the adult Sivana stole the eye, Shazam chose Billy as his new champion and swiftly crumbled to dust soon after. Hounsou is reprising the role in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and judging from the trailer, rather tha the wizard Shazam’s spirit mentoring the heroes from the afterlife or appearing through flashbacks, it looks as though he's straight up been brought back to life.
Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren has scored action cred thanks to her work in the RED movies and the Fast & Furious franchise, and now she’s jumping into the superhero movie genre with Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Mirren will play Hespera, one of the daughters of Atlas, from whom Billy and his siblings gain their enhanced stamina. The behind-the-scenes featurette for the sequel that screened at 2021’s DC FanDome showed Hespera and Kalypso (more on her soon) in a museum on Earth and causing mayhem on a street, so it seems as if they’re searching for an artifact on our world and don’t mind unleashing some destruction in the process. What is this artifact? What do they intend to do with it? It’ll be a while before those questions are answered.
Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu also knows her way around the action world from the original Charlie’s Angels movies and Kill Bill: Volume 1, while in more recent years, she starred as Joan Watson in the CBS series Elementary. Liu’s Kalypso will be causing trouble alongside Helen Mirren’s Hespera in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, but we won’t just see them on Earth. In addition to revisiting the Rock of Eternity, we’ll also visit places like the Library of Eternity and the Realm of the Gods in the sequel, and monsters like minotaurs, harpies and dragons will be on display. It stands to reason we’ll learn at least a little bit about Hespera and Kalypso’s upbringing in Fury of the Gods, namely how they ended up on the antagonistic path.
Rachel Zegler
The third of Atlas' daughters is named Anthea, and she’ll be played by Rachel Zegler, who made her film debut in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake. Between Shazam! Fury of the Gods and leading Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Zegler has a bright future ahead of her in Hollywood. It is worth noting that we don’t know yet if Zegler’s character in Fury of the Gods will be a villain like Hespera and Kalypso, or if she’s walking down a different path.
Cooper Andrews
In the first act of Shazam!, Billy Batson was placed in a group home run by Victor and Rosa Vásquez, who each had their own experience with the foster care system. Nevertheless, Billy kept looking for his biological mother, and after a sad reunion with her where he learned she deliberately gave him up, Billy realized his new family is where he truly belonged. The Walking Dead’s Cooper Andrews played Victor, and he’ll be back for Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Marta Milans
It’d be pretty weird for Victor to appear in Shazam! Fury of the Gods without Rosa, but luckily, we don’t have to worry about that. No Tomorrow’s Marta Milans will reprise Rosa in the sequel. Since the parents didn’t learn in Shazam! that their foster children became superheroes, hopefully they learn that in this new movie. There’s only so much sneaking around these kids can do before they finally reveal the truth.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods will work its magic in theaters on December 16, 2022. Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more news about this and other upcoming DC Comics movies.
