Shazam swooped into San Diego Comic-Con’s Hall H today, bringing the electricity to the Warner Bros. presentation. Zachary Levi took the stage to talk “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” before the film’s first official trailer debuted.
“The Shazamily has been playing superheros for a few years now in Philadelphia,” he said, setting the scene for the new film before debuting the trailer.
After showing the trailer, director David F. Sandberg, Lucy Liu, Asher Angel and Jack Dylan Grazer headed onstage to talk about the sequel.
Sandberg quipped that, “It’s a sequel now, so we got more money, and we spend it all.”
When speaking about the characters, Angel said, “Billy is afraid of losing his Shazamily and hyper-focused on keeping it.”
The most energetic moment of the panel was when Helen Mirren and Rachel Zegler appeared remotely via video, and Mirren celebrated her female costars by saying, “Yay, pussy power!”
During the audience Q&A, Levi was asked if Superman would appear in this movie. “I can neither confirm nor deny allegations such as these,” he replied winkingly. He also fielded the question about a possible “Shazam 3” by encouraging fans to support the sequel, saying, “If you guys go and see this one and you like it.”
The sequel to “Shazam!,” the hit 2019 film from the DC Extended Univers, is coming Dec. 21. “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” brings back Levi as the titular hero for a battle against Helen Mirren’s Hespera, the villainous daughter of the god Atlas. Liu stars as Kalypso, the evil sister of Hespera.
Both characters do not have an obvious counterpart in the DC Comics, but, as the daughters of the Greek god Atlas, they no doubt have a relationship to the boy-turned-magical-superhero. One of the sources of Shazam’s powers is Atlas himself — he holds the stamina of the titan god. Along with the power of Zeus, the strength of Hercules, the wisdom of Solomon, the speed of Mercury and the courage of Achilles, Shazam is surely in for an intense battle in his second outing.
The core cast and filmmaking team from the original “Shazam!” is returning for the sequel, including Asher Angel as Shazam’s teenage alter ego Billy Batson. David F. Sandberg is returning to direct the film from a screenplay by Henry Gayden, and Peter Safran is producing with his shingle the Safran Company.
It’s sure to be an exciting end of the year for Shazam fans as the new “Black Adam” film starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is coming on Oct. 21. In the comics, Black Adam is the arch nemesis of Shazam and, in many ways, his darker counterpart. While Shazam has the powers of the Greek gods, Black Adam calls upon the Egyptian gods for his incredible power. While a team up or conflict between the two magical super-beings has not been announced, the DCEU is no doubt introducing a bit more magic this winter.
Watch the trailer below: