Much to the delight of DC fans, the release of the highly-anticipated Shazam! Fury of the Gods or Shazam 2 is being moved forward to 16 December, 2022. This is a whopping six month jump from its earlier June 2023 release.
However, various DC comics movies, including DC League of Super-Pets, The Flash, Aquaman 2, Black Adam and Wonka are being woefully delayed, as announced by Warner Bros.
What we know so far
Directed by David F. Sandberg, the first Shazam film was introduced in the DC world in 2019. Starring Asher Angel as Billy Batson, the story revolved around the life of a struggling foster kid, who is bestowed with superhero abilities whenever he utters the word ‘Shazam’.
Billy is able to summon wondrous magical powers through this chant and transform into his superhero personification and the aspirational, enhanced version of his future adult self. The quintessential tall, muscular and strong adult version of him is played by Zachary Levi in the film.
The superhero comedy was highly-acclaimed and a massive hit among fans, boasting a formidable USD 366 million earnings worldwide.
What is next for the Shazam franchise and Billy Batson?
David F. Sandberg, will be donning the director’s hat once again for the sequel, Shazam 2. We will also see writer Henry Gayden return, giving the fans another reason to rejoice.
To keep the fans in loop and on their toes, an exciting short behind-the scenes snippet was released at the DC FanDome in 2021, revealing a wider picture traversing the real world and the ‘Realm of the Gods’. The sequel will focus on another battle against evil gods.
Shazam 2: Cast members
Apart from director Sandberg and writer Gayden, Zachary Levi and Asher Angel are returning as superhero extraordinaire and Shazam’s human equivalent, Billy Batson, respectively. We will also see Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy, Billy’s best friend, accompanied by Adam Goldberg playing his superhero counterpart in the sequel.
The other Shazam who granted Billy his powers in the first movie, portrayed by actor Djimon Honsou, will also be sharing screen space with the cast members in Shazam 2. Actors Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu, who played the daughters of Atlas, Hespera and Kalypso, will be returning as the fan-favourite villains and evil goddesses going against the amateur, undertrained crew of Batson and his friends.
Besides these regular cast members, actress Rachel Zegler of the West Side Story fame is said to be the newest addition to Shazam 2 in a mysterious, yet-to-be-revealed role. It is speculated that she has been roped in to portray Billy Batson’s love interest in the film.
With just nine months to go for the release of Shazam 2, director David F. Sandberg humorously declared that his movie shall win the battle against James Cameron’s Avatar 2, which is set to release during the same time, in a playful dig on Twitter, on 10 March, 2022.
Going up against Avatar 2. Poor James Cameron must be shaking in his boots right now….
— David F. Sandberg (@ponysmasher) March 9, 2022
DC fans are now impatiently waiting for Shazam 2’s new poster or trailer, which should soon be revealed, given that DC loves to have a suspenseful buildup and save all their hype for one singular timeframe.
The December release proved to be lucky for Aquaman and fans hope that it will work its magic similarly for Shazam 2 this year.
(Main and featured image credit: David F. Sandberg/ Shazam! Fury of the Gods/IMDb)
