Director David F. Sandberg's Shazam! was a breath of fresh air. Full of heart, warmth, humor, and some ingenious, even horror-tinged setpieces, the Zachary Levi-starring DC movie immediately stood out as one of the best superhero flicks of that traditionally Batman-and-Superman-oriented stable of cinema.
Thankfully, we are all getting a sequel by the name of Shazam! Fury of the Gods, with the returning creative team and cast (plus a few new, dope faces) to give us more unique superhero pleasures. Our own Steve Weintraub recently spoke with Levi about his new sports film American Underdog, and while Levi couldn't dive too deep into the new Shazam's secrets ("You know how we all should feel about spoilers, which is, 'We don't say them'"), he told us just about much of a leap in quality he thinks the sequel is. And, like the rest of us, he wishes it was coming out way sooner.
Levi got into why he believes Fury of the Gods is a triumph over the first Shazam, a film he's already proud of:
"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. 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. 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."
Yes, sadly, we do have to wait until June of 2023 to see Shazam 2. And while Levi, like the rest of us, wants that release date moved up sooner (even crossing his fingers while wishing), he was diplomatic and holistic as to why Warner Bros. is waiting: "Fortunately, we are amongst a huge group of very cool characters and actors that play those characters. They're already more established in a lot of ways because of the DC movies that preexisted before we came in. So we're a little bit of a JV coming into the varsity squad, and there's a lot of titles that need to come out to the world. I get it; studios have to make a concerted effort about not cannibalizing your own titles. You can't release them too close to each other, otherwise you might cannibalize each other. Plus, you have to take into consideration all the other studios' releases and all that stuff. So that's where it is — but, you never know, maybe it'll come out sooner. Here's hoping and praying, I hope."
As for these other DC movies coming out prior to Shazam, one of the most hotly anticipated is Black Adam, starring Dwayne Johnson in the title role, scheduled for a July 29, 2022 release. Is there any chance that Black Adam is coming out first to hint at a crossover/shared universe between the two heroes and movie stars? Levi told us that "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." However, he also bemusedly noted some in-character Twitter beef going on between the two characters: "There've been some funny little things back and forth in character on Twitter. Somebody had asked him, 'How could Shazam possibly stand up to Black Adam?' To which he replied, 'He doesn't.' But then he labels it 'Black Adam,' as if Black Adam is saying that."
Is "Shazam v Black Adam: Dawn of Twitter" getting teased right before our very eyes?! Well... probably not. But a Dwayne Johnson/Zachary Levi cocktail party sounds fun, no?
Shazam! Fury of the Gods will release in theaters on June 2, 2023 (at least for now, tee-hee). Be on the lookout for our full chat with Zachary Levi soon. Shazam! Fury of the Gods also stars Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Adam Brody, Faithe Herman, Meagan Good, Grace Fulton, Michelle Borth, Ian Chen, Ross Butler, Jovan Armand, D.J. Cotrona, Marta Milans, and Cooper Andrews.