The following contains spoilers for Shazam! Fury of the Gods, now playing in theaters.
As Shazam! Fury of the Gods proceeds, Billy Batson (played by Asher Angel and Zachary Levi) has to dig deep against the Daughters of Atlas. The villains reboot Shazam's staff, drain the siblings' powers, and try to break Billy, who's totally lost without the Marvel Family. Luckily, he rallies at the end, getting help from Helen Mirren's Hespera to take out Lucy Liu's Kalypso.
Rachel Zegler's Anthea helps, too, saving a world she's got compassion for. Sadly, Billy dies but gets a magical hand in returning to life. It leaves him as jovial as ever, and while James Gunn and Peter Safran haven't announced a third film in their docket for director David F. Sandberg, there's a lot of ground for a new chapter to tread.
Shazam! 3 Could Revive Sivana and Mister Mind
Now, Gunn loves Fury of the Gods, and while some critics are knocking Fury of the Gods, should it rake in enough money, it's hard to see Warner Bros. not trying to do a follow-up. The foundation is there already, as Doctor Sivana (Mark Strong) appears once more with Mister Mind, the evil caterpillar, remixing their stinger after the first film.
In one of Fury of the Gods' post-credits, Mister Mind warns he's still assembling parts for a nasty scheme, which could see the telepath bringing sadistic characters to life from the comics. He could bring forth the Monster Society of Evil as the ultimate army for Sivana to command or launch that nuclear holocaust he's obsessed with. And given that Shazam's now a roving Wizard, the villains could even kidnap him to power their legion, giving the Marvel Family another formidable threat after the Daughters of Atlas.
Shazam! 3 Could Shatter the Concept of Family
WB has a few options to toy with, as Billy's also recruited for Amanda Waller's Justice Society once Wonder Woman resurrects Billy after the battle. But apart from Billy rolling solo, the Marvel Family still has goons such as Ibac, Captain Nazi, Lady Blaze and the evil sorceress in Sabina as potential enemies. In an ideal world, they'd also tussle with Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam, but Gunn and Co. seem to have moved past that character, not even mentioning the fallen Champion is around in Kahndaq.
However, Adam's darkness could still thematically reside in a member of Billy's crew: Mary Marvel (Grace Caroline Currey). In the comics, Mary went evil after wanting to dispense her own brand of justice, so it's easy to envision her getting corrupted with power. And seeing as she and the immature Billy have tension, there's potential for a falling out. If someone in the Batson family's killed, this could push her over the edge, giving Billy someone powerful and smarter to battle, especially as she can't stand his incompetence.
It'd be their ultimate test, adhering to how Mary lost her way in the books and was left trying to seek redemption -- an arc Young Justice is reworking. Such an approach would also break the monotony and repetitiveness of just throwing groups at them to fight superficially. Ultimately, as controversial as it'd be, this civil war hurts a vulnerable Billy mentally and physically and exploits his greatest weakness: love for his siblings.
To see how the movie sets up a sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods is in theaters now.