Shazam! Fury of the Gods star Zachary Levi praises the first film -- but promises the sequel is even better.
Levi spoke to Collider about the upcoming film. And though it's still a ways away, the actor is already hyping it up. "I will say that I genuinely — and this is not just lip service — I'm really proud of the first one, I think we made a really, really good movie," Levi said. "I think the second one is better. I think that we had more time, we had more budget. We had, essentially, the entire cast returning, and we all knew our characters a little bit more; we could kind of sit into them a little bit more."
"Henry Gayden, who wrote the first script, wrote the second, and he did a fantastic job doing so," Levi continued. "Everything just clicked even a little bit more and a little bit more. And also the kids have grown up a little bit more, so even the sensibilities of them become even slightly more mature which brings it closer to my or other people's adult minds, so there's even more connection there, I think. The action's great, the comedy's great, the relationships are great. The bad guys, Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu, are fantastic. I'm very proud of it. I want it to come out sooner than June of 2023."
Mirren and Liu will be joining the DCEU as the film's villains, Hespera and Kalypso, who briefly appeared in the Fury of the Gods first-look footage that dropped during DC Fandome. While they don't have comic book counterparts, they'll be the daughters of Atlas in the film, continuing to link Shazam's universe to mythology. And they won't be alone.
Though her character name is still being kept under wraps, Rachel Zegler will play a goddess herself, the third daughter of Atlas. One character who won't be in the film, however, is Black Adam, soon to lead in his own movie starring Dwayne Johnson. While Shazam and Adam are nemeses in the comics, it seems the films are taking a different route -- for now.
"I don't know Dwayne, I have no communication with him, but I know that we're all a part of the same, big, happy DC family, and I look forward to whatever cocktail parties we're all at together," Levi said when asked about Black Adam's involvement in the Shazam! franchise.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods bolts into theaters June 2, 2023.
Source: Collider