Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a 2023 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Shazam. Produced by New Line Cinema, DC Films, and The Safran Company, and set for distribution by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is intended to be the sequel to Shazam! (2019) and the 12th film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). It is directed by David F. Sandberg from a screenplay by Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan, and stars Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler, Adam Brody, Ross Butler, Meagan Good, Lucy Liu, Djimon Hounsou, and Helen Mirren. In the film, a family of teenage heroes led by Billy Batson / Shazam fight the daughters of Atlas.
Plot[]
In Athens, Greece, two of the daughters of the Titan Atlas, Hespera and Kalypso, break into the Acropolis Museum to steal the Wizard's broken staff. They then take it to the imprisoned Wizard, forcing him to rechant "Shazam", thereby repairing it and activing its powers.
In Philadelphia, Billy Batson with his foster siblings save people on a collapsing bridge but are called out for the destruction. At home, everyone is drifting apart due to them growing older and having personal interests. Billy is worried about being kicked out of the Vasquez family after turning 18 and aging out of the foster system. In a dream, as Shazam, Billy is warned by the Wizard about the daughters of Atlas. Billy and his siblings then do research on the daughters.
Freddy, who is bullied at school, meets a new girl named Anne, develops a relationship, then shows off his superhero self. Unfortunately, Hespera and Kalypso arrive with the staff, stealing Freddy's powers. Anne is revealed to be their youngest sister, Anthea. As Billy, with his siblings, is about to save Freddy, the goddess daughters kidnap him, then put a dome around the city, trapping the family and the city's residents. Freddy is imprisoned along with the Wizard in their afterlife kingdom. The Daughters of Atlas reveal they want revenge because the Wizard killed Atlas.
The family goes to Rock of Eternity. They encounter a magic sentient pen nicknamed "Steve", which they use to draft a letter to Hespera calling for a deal for Freddy and the staff. Billy meets Hespera at a hamburger joint, where she admits her father was a tyrant and that his family stole all the powers of the gods. The family fights her along with Kalypso, who takes Pedro's powers using the staff. Hespera is defeated and brought to their lair. While they try to devise a plan, Hespera breaks free, finding the golden apple, the seed of life. At the kingdom, Freddy and the Wizard try to find a way to escape the gods' world with Anthea helping them. However, when they reach the door, Hespera walks through with the apple. The Wizard suggests stealing it as it can destroy his world. While trying to steal it, Freddy falls down, catching the daughters' attention, but luckily is saved by Billy.
Billy, Freddy, the Wizard, and the rest of the family reveal themselves as superheroes to their parents as a dragon is about to destroy their house. Kalypso chases them for the apple, with each member losing their powers. Mary flies off with the apple, but is zapped, losing her powers and falling. Billy chooses to save her, allowing Kalypso to retrieve the apple. She also gravely wounds Hespera, then plants the apple in a stadium growing the Tree of Life and unleashing various creatures, who then attack the civilians. The family stops at a parking lot to view the chaos. Billy feels hopeless and asks the Wizard to take back his powers. He tells Billy he chose him because of his selflessness and care for his family knowing it might be a suicide mission.
Billy turns into Shazam to stop Kalypso, the family tries to help him, and Darla asks Steve what the creature's weakness is: unicorns. Everyone gets off the van except the parents, and the kids with the Wizard look around. Darla finds a unicorn and gives it Skittles, befriending it; a herd appears, allowing each of them to ride one. Shazam persuades a dying Hespera to help him stop her sister. He makes Kalypso chase him, stopping at the tree where the stadium is, then the dome shrinks around them. Finally, the parents, Anthea and Freddy are near the dome where Billy is ready to fight Kalypso alone.
Billy fights Kalypso and her dragon and destroys them both by breaking the staff, though he is mortally wounded in turn. Anthea brings Billy's grieving family to her kingdom for his funeral as they mourn for him. The goddess Diana (Wonder Woman) suddenly appears and repairs the staff, and uses it to revive Billy, who happily reunites with his family. The family fixes their house with Anne and the Wizard living in their world.
In a mid-credit scene, Billy meets Emilia Harcourt and John Economos, who recruit him on behalf of Amanda Waller to join the Justice Society. In a post-credit scene, Thaddeus Sivana, still in prison, encounters Mister Mind once again.
Cast[]
- Asher Angel as Billy Batson
- Zachary Levi as Shazam
- Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy Freeman
- Adam Brody as Superhero Freddy
- Rachel Zegler as Anthea
- Ian Chen as Eugene Choi
- Ross Butler as Superhero Eugene
- Jovan Armand as Pedro Peña
- D.J. Cotrona as Superhero Pedro
- Grace Caroline Currey as Mary Bromfield
- Faithe Herman as Darla Dudley
- Meagan Good as Superhero Darla
- Lucy Liu as Kalypso
- Djimon Hounsou as Shazam
- Helen Mirren as Hespera
- Marta Milans as Rosa Vasquez
- Cooper Andrews as Victor Vasquez
- Carson MacCormac as Brett Breyer
- Evan Marsh as Burke Breyer
- Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
- Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt
- Steve Agee as John Economos
- Mark Strong as Thaddeus Sivana
- David F. Sandberg as Mister Mind
- P.J. Bryne as Pediatrician
- Diedrich Bader as a to-be-confirmed character
- Lotta Losten as a to-be-confirmed character
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This is the twelfth film in the DC Extended Universe.
- This is the second film centering on Shazam.
- The film was announced a week after Shazam! (2019) debuted in theaters.
- This is Helen Mirren's third comic book movie after Red and Red 2.
- This is Rachel Zegler's second film after West Side Story.
- This is Djimon Hounsou third appearance as Shazam The Wizard after Shazam! and Black Adam.
- Gal Gadot reprises her role as Wonder Woman for the first time since Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021).
- Shazam tells Hespera that he will defeat her because he's "seen all of the 'Fast and the Furious' movies". Helen Mirren, who plays Hespera, has appeared in a number of the later The Fast and the Furious (2001) sequels and spin-offs as crime matriarch Magdalene "Queenie" Shaw.
- In the teaser trailer, as Billy Batson (as Shazam) talks about other superheroes, footage from Zack Snyder's Justice League and the original Aquaman film from 2018 are shown.
- The film was originally scheduled to be released on 1 April 2022, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the release date was pushed back to 4 November 2022 and again to 2 June 2023.
- The Annabelle doll from director David F. Sandberg's Annabelle: Creation (2017) can be seen in a chair at the pediatrician's office. Both films star Grace Caroline Currey.
- The Daughters of Atlas do not appear in the comics, but are original characters created for the film.
- A shop sign reads "Fulci". According to David F. Sandberg this is a homage to Italian horror director Lucio Fulci.
- Lucy Liu, whose character Calypso fights a hero empowered by the god Hercules, had previously starred in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys: The March to Freedom (1995).
- Grace Caroline Currey who plays Mary Bromfield will also play her adult superhero form, replacing Michelle Borth from the first film. According to director David F. Sandberg, Fulton is now playing both parts but her hair and makeup are slightly different when she's super so nobody will ever recognize her.
- The Furies come from Greek mythology and are all children of Atlas (one of the gods who gives Shazam his power):
- Hespera is named after the Hesperides, the spirits of the sunset, who tended a garden of golden apples. Hespera is also the female form of Hesperus, Atlas's brother and the god of the Evening Star Venus.
- Kalypso is named after the enchantress who tended to Odysseus on his way home.
- Anthea is the goddess of gardens, swamps, flowers, and human love.
- There are also two member of the Hesperides named Calypso and Antheia (another spelling of Anthea's name).
| Shazam! |
|---|
| Shazam! (2019), Black Adam (2022), Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) |
| DC Extended Universe |
|---|
| Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016), Wonder Woman (2017), Justice League (2017), Aquaman (2018), Shazam! (2019), Birds of Prey (2020), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), The Suicide Squad (2021), Black Adam (2022), Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023), The Flash (2023), Blue Beetle (2023), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) |