Shooting continues on blockbuster DCEU sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and with the movie filming a lot of footage outdoors, a deluge of set photos have invariably been making their way online. Director David F. Sandberg acknowledged as much, when he revealed that he decided to debut the first official look at Billy Batson’s family in costume so the reveal wasn’t spoiled for the fans by some grainy snaps taken from a distance.
Behind the scenes pictures did give us our first look at Helen Mirren in costume as villain Hespera, though, and now another returning character from the first film has been confirmed. Most folks probably weren’t expecting Djimon Honsou to appear as the ancient wizard who first bestowed our young hero with his powers after deeming him pure of heart, but as you can see below, he’s back in action.
Having already fulfilled his narrative obligations by delivering the lengthy exposition dump that filled the uninitiated in on who Shazam! is, where his powers come from and why Billy is deserving of them, fans will no doubt begin speculating furiously as to how and why Honsou fits into Fury of the Gods.
From an entirely speculative point of view, it could be tied to Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam, even though Shazam! Fury of the Gods isn’t releasing until June 2023, eleven months after The Rock’s superhero debut hits theaters. In the comic books, Teth-Adam gets his powers from the wizard just like Billy did, and Zachary Levi has barely been able to contain his excitement about potentially getting to face off against the world’s biggest movie star in a future DCEU project, so maybe Honsou is back to issue an ominous warning.