Director David F. Sandberg won’t be anything less than completely prepared for the release of Shazam! Fury of the Gods, with production on the DCEU sequel having wrapped at the end of August, even though the movie isn’t coming to theaters until June 2023.
The expectations surrounding the sequel are much greater after the first installment scored the second-highest Rotten Tomatoes score in franchise history behind Wonder Woman, while it’s estimated to be the most profitable entry in the series to boot after earning $366 million at the box office on a budget of under $100 million.
Now that Helen Mirren has let the cat out of the bag and confirmed that Rachel Zegler will be joining her Hespera and Lucy Liu’s Kalypso as the third major antagonist, we know the odds are heavily stacked against Zachary Levi’s title hero. In an interview with Collider, the actor admitted that he wishes audiences didn’t have to wait so long to see Fury of the Gods.
“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.”
By the time Shazam! Fury of the Gods arrives, Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam will have been and gone, meaning we’ll have a much better idea of whether the comic book arch-enemies will be squaring off sooner rather than later in the DCEU, which is one of just many reasons to be excited about the film.