Shortly after Warner Bros. took the Hall H stage at San Diego Comic-Con and world premiered the trailer, I got to speak with Shazam! Fury of the Gods director David F. Sandberg about making the highly anticipated DC sequel. As a huge fan of the first film and the way Sandberg handled the tone and character, Shazam 2 is one of my most anticipated films later this year. Also, with the way he ended the first film having so many characters gain superpowers, it’s going to be interesting to see how he balances all the different storylines in the second film.

During the interview, Sandberg talked about what he’s learned from test screening the movie, where he’s at in the edit, why he doesn’t mind when the trailers show some of the big scenes, how Shazam fights a dragon and other monsters in the sequel, how they decided on the story, Rachel Zegler’s character, if he knows when Black Adam and Shazam will meet up, having Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren as the villains, and more.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods see’s the return of Asher Angel as Billy Batson and Zachary Levi as his superhero alter ego Shazam. Jack Dylan Grazer also return’s as Freddy Freeman, with Adam Brody returning as his adult superhero form. Faithe Herman also returns as Darla Dudley with Meagan Good returning as the adult superhero alter ego of Darla. Likewise, viewers will get to see Ian Chen return as Eugene Choi, and Ross Butler returning to take on his adult superhero mantle. Jovan Armand will also play Pedro Peña, with D. J. Cotrona playing his adult superhero counterpart. Additionally, Grace Fulton returns as Mary Bromfield. Marta Milans and Cooper Andrews will play the foster parents of Billy and his siblings. Djimon Hounsou is also returning for the sequel.

Watch what Sandberg had to say in the player above, or you can read our conversation below.

COLLIDER: I'm so happy for you with how the first film was such a huge hit and that you got to make a sequel. We're at Comic-Con and you are literally just off the Hall H stage. I think you just came right over. The trailer just came online.

SANDBERG: Yes. My notifications were blowing up when we were on the stage. Yeah, it's out there now.

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Image via Warner Bros. 

What is it like before you step on stage in Hall H? As a filmmaker, are you nervous backstage? Are you thinking about your talking points?

SANDBERG: Yeah, definitely I am nervous. It's just such a big thing, and I'm a big introvert as well. This day is very draining for me to just be outgoing and talking to people, but then it's just like, “Yeah, how are people going to react?” In there, it felt amazing, which is the crowd reactions and everything. I'm excited.

The trailer just dropped. It reveals a few things. I didn't realize Shazam was going to fight a dragon. I'm glad we can now talk about this. Shazam fights a dragon in the movie.

SANDBERG: He fights a lot of things. I wanted him to put even more monsters and all kinds of stuff. I was like, "Put it all in the trailer." I just want people to see it. Look at the cool stuff we've been making. Yeah, the dragon is awesome.

It's so funny you say that because some filmmakers I know talk about how they want to keep things back and other people I know are like, "Listen, whatever gets people in the seats, let's do it."

SANDBERG: I'm more like that. Some things, it's like, you want to keep some twists and turns secret, but you want to show cool visuals. I think a lot of people also forget some of it, or they don't know quite the context. I don't think it ruins the experience. It's more like just gets people excited.

Where are you actually in the edit of the movie?

SANDBERG: Now it's just finishing it up, all the VFX and recording the music with a proper orchestra and everything. The movie is pretty much... The cut's locked and everything, so it's just finishing it up.

Zachary Levi and Jack Dylan Grazer in Shazam
Image via Warner Bros

You're literally just waiting on final VFX shots?

SANDBERG: Yeah, and that's the marathon. It's like hour-long VFX reviews every day. It just takes forever and it's so much, but it's looking pretty cool. That dragon.

One of the things that people don't realize though is how close to the end a lot of movies and TV shows are because of VFX. All the VFX companies are being worked.

SANDBERG: It's insane. Yeah, just getting people available to do VFX is like, because there's so many movies coming out now. After [the] pandemic and everything, it's just every movie's now full on.

Is there one sequence that is really pushing the boundaries of VFX in terms of, were you nervous to put it in the movie just because of what it was going to rely on?

SANDBERG: There's stuff with some of the powers of the sisters that you see glimpses of it in this trailer, but we're still tweaking and figuring out exactly what it looks like. It's hard to talk about without being spoilery, but it's a very big power.

When did you first know that Warner Brothers wanted a sequel? Was it opening weekend that they called you?

SANDBERG: Pretty much. Yeah, the first movie just came out, and we were already having meetings about what's the sequel going to be and trying to figure that out. Didn't feel like there was ever a point of like, oh, is there going to be a sequel or not?

There are many ways you could go with this sequel. How close did it come to being like another movie versus the story that you ended up telling?

SANDBERG: First, we looked at following the comic book closer, the New 52 version, because there were new issues of that. It felt like we wanted to do something more in our world because the comic book goes way into the fantasy lands and stuff like that. Once we had that down, we knew we wanted to do more with the family because the family isn't in the first movie that much. They don't even know about Shazam's power. We wanted to see them all together and just up the stakes and just do more of everything.

Shazam Family in Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Image via Warner Bros

Can you reveal... Is the movie two hours? Is it two and a half? How long is the film?

SANDBERG: I don't know if I'm allowed to say that.

I don't know. That's why I'm asking you.

SANDBERG: It's very similar to the first movie. Let's say that.

Oh, I understand.

SANDBERG: It's not like a three-hour movie.

What I'm saying is, at the studio level, do they whisper in your ear, "It'd be great if it was two hours?"

SANDBERG: No, in fact, I've actually been told by the studio, we make movies, not run times. That's how they feel about it. It's mostly about you test a movie and then if people feel that it could be shorter in places, then you look at that. No, there's never any mandate of it has to be under two hours or anything.

I've heard that you've tested the movie. I'm curious, what did you learn from those screenings that actually impacted the finished film?

SANDBERG: It was mostly actually tightening up in some places. There's a lot of stuff going on with monsters and everything. We had some sequences that were really cool that had a lot of monsters, but it didn't really involve the family. It felt like, well, you can probably take that out because people want to see more of Shazam and the family, even though the monster's just creating havoc and cities are cool too.

I like in the trailer, there's a joke about Fast and the Furious.

SANDBERG: Yeah.

Shazam Rachel Zegler
Image via Warner Bros

Is it tough to put something like that in? Do you have to get permission or is it sort of like, whatever, we're talking about movies?

SANDBERG: No, permission is not a problem. Everyone liked that, and Chris Morgan worked on this movie.

Wait, did he write that joke?

SANDBERG: I don't remember who wrote that joke, if it was Henry or him, but it's great. It's too Helen Mirren, who was in the Fast franchise.

I love the tone of Shazam. One of the things that I commend you on with the first film is there's really fun lighthearted jokes and then there's some pretty dark stuff in it, with monsters. How much are you able to do that again in the sequel?

SANDBERG: A lot. I like playing with the tone like that. Yeah, we have the fun stuff, but we also have some pretty dark, pretty emotional stuff. It's a pretty emotional movie, actually. It's nice when a movie is like a full meal. It's not just focused on one thing.

Rachel Zegler is in the movie, from West Side Story, for people that might not know her name. I wasn't sure what kind of role she had in the film until I saw the trailer and saw maybe she has powers.

SANDBERG: She does. Yeah. In the film, that is a bit of a twist, but it's a pretty early twist so you kind of had to put it in trailers and stuff. It's hard to hide that in a movie.

That's the thing. For me, if something's going to happen in the first 20 minutes of a film, it's not really a spoiler.

SANDBERG: True.

It's really early. It's not like this is a third-act reveal.

SANDBERG: No, it's not. Yeah, we want to show her off because she's great in this movie. She does some really cool stuff.

Just have to ask, does she sing?

SANDBERG: She does not. This is the one movie where she doesn't sing. Yeah. She's in Snow White and West Side Story. It's like, oh, maybe we should have had her sing. She probably won't sing in Hunger Games though. I don't know.

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Image via Warner Bros.

Actually...

SANDBERG: What?

You never know. There could be an acapella moment. She's talking to... Who knows? Obviously, Shazam and Black Adam are on a collision course, if you will. At some point, they're going to meet up. How much is that a conversation or a part of to discuss where is this ultimately going? There's no way it's going to stop with Shazam 2.

SANDBERG: There hasn't really been a conversation about that. I know, at the moment, Black Adam is sort of its thing and Shazam is its thing. Then we'll see where it all goes in the future, but I haven't really been a part of any conversations like that.

Making any movie's a challenge and you're building the infrastructure on how to make the movie, what's the visual language of the film, what is it like behind the scenes, how hard is it to do certain VFX shots. What did you learn making the first film that really helped you making the sequel?

SANDBERG: It's a lot of combination of a lot of things. Just smaller things that we had so many problems with, the light-up bolts in the first movie, which we tried to do practically. On this one, it's like, let's not even bother because it turns into VFX anyway. In this one, you have some interactive light you put on there, but then do it mostly with VFX. It looks better. I actually like the bolts better in this movie where it is mostly CG rather than the first one, where it was mostly practical.

Also, the actors don't have to carry batteries this way.

SANDBERG: They still did because you have to have some interactive light, but it wasn't as sensitive. It didn't break down as much because it was a simpler design.

Obviously, the first film ends with a lot of people getting powers. In the trailer, we can see that they're not breaking up, but everyone seems to be maybe using their powers and doing their thing. Can you talk about what the journey is for the family?

SANDBERG: In the movie, Shazam, he's trying to keep the family together, but everyone's doing their own thing. They haven't really learned how to work together and especially Freddy. He just wants... "Yeah, I'm going to be a superhero on my own. Why do we have to do everything together?" The movie is about them having to learn to work together and be a superhero team.

I really love the tone and how it's fun and funny and a little dark. Talk a little bit about, in the writing process, how you find that line. You know what I mean? Keeping that tone, because it's tricky.

SANDBERG: Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan worked on the script. They're the ones who do that. They're great, and then we play with it on set as well, just actors and the whole thing. I don't know. We just do what feels right. Then of course always in the edit, there's some tweaking. Oh, maybe we went a little too far here and just tone it down. It's a very collaborative process.

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Image via Warner Bros.

What can you actually tease about the villains and having Helen Mirren? What do you want to tell people about them?

SANDBERG: They're so cool because they all have such different powers, and they're very powerful. They're gods, which is just really cool to see them come to earth and really mess things up. There's such a good team together. It's a dream just working with like Lucy Liu, Helen Mirren, Rachel Zegler. It's the best team ever.

How close did you come to another title? How did you end up with the title that you have?

SANDBERG: I think that was marketing or something. We didn't really know. We just like, "Oh yeah, it's Shazam 2, I guess." Then someone pitched Fury of the Gods. It's like, oh, that sounds really cool. I like that title.

Sometimes I've spoken to filmmakers, and they have 10 titles, and they're debating which one it's going to be. You know what I mean?

SANDBERG: No, this one was easy. I don't remember any other suggestions really. It's just like, ah, perfect.

You don't just do Shazam movies. What are you actually working on that you might do as a next project before you do possibly another DC thing?

SANDBERG: Working on a couple of things. My goal next is to do a smaller horror/thriller/sci-fi, that area. We have a couple of projects in the pipeline. We'll see which one goes first, but yeah, after two Shazam movies in a row, it's just like, I just want to go back to horror for a second.

Also, the thing that I've spoken to a lot of filmmakers that have done these big movies, is you learn a lot of tricks about VFX and things making these movies that really help you when you're making a lower budget movie. Also, sometimes VFX companies want to work with you because they know you'll do another big movie.

SANDBERG: That's good to know.

I've heard a lot of stories.

SANDBERG: Yeah. You learn so much on every movie, but yeah, you definitely learn things that are applicable. Yeah, what's the low budget version of this? It's just fun to play with new technologies as well. We did some of that LED wall screen thing, which is all the rage right now.

Can I ask what sequences did you use that for?

SANDBERG: It was just a couple of ones. Yeah, they're in the trailer. It's a rooftop thing, and it was in a museum.

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Image via Warner Bros.

Sure. That technology is crazy.

SANDBERG: It's really cool. Yeah. It just helps with the light so much.

Yeah, it looks natural.

SANDBERG: I love it. You just get more stuff in camera, even though you do have to fix a lot of things, but you start off from such a better place than with blue screen.

My last thing for you, we're at Comic-Con are you walking the convention floor? If so, what are you looking to buy?

SANDBERG: I already did yesterday. Didn't actually buy anything though. I mostly just walked around and looked at things.

Is there anything that you geek out over?

SANDBERG: I was debating, there was a Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck deluxe edition. I'm a big Scrooge McDuck fan. I was like, ah, yeah, but I didn't buy it because I already have the old version.

No, I understand. My thing as I've gotten older, I don't know if it's the same with you, is that there's so much that I want to get and then I have to remind myself.

SANDBERG: You got to have the space for it.

The wizard Shazam talking to Billy Batson in Shazam!
Image via Warner Bros.

Yeah, I'm at that point too, but it's like, am I really going to read it? Am I buying it just to buy it?

SANDBERG: Yeah.

What am I going to move or get rid of to get this? When you get older, it sucks.

SANDBERG: Yes.

These are first-world problems. Anyway, listen, man, I want to say thank you so much for coming in. I sincerely cannot wait to see the movie and hopefully, and I'll say it on camera when it's coming out, maybe we can do a Collider screening in Los Angeles.

SANDBERG: Oh, absolutely. Yeah.

You're getting an IMAX release or are you? Do you know?

SANDBERG: I think so.

Hopefully, we'll do it in IMAX. On that note, I'm just going to say thank you for real.

SANDBERG: Thank you for having me.

For more on the Shazam! sequel: