This year we got to see the story of the wizard’s former Champion of Magic make his debut on the big screen. Next year, his successor Billy Batson, better known as Shazam, will be returning to the DC Universe (DCU) for his sequel, “Shazam! Fury of the Gods”. The sequel will see Billy and the Shazam family go up against the Daughters of the Greek God Atlas.
The daughters Anthea, Hespera, and Kalypso are played by Rachel Zegler, Helen Mirren, and Lucy Liu! Interestingly enough, Atlas just so happens to be one of the six beings that grants Billy his powers. The three sisters see Billy and his siblings as unworthy of wielding the power of gods and plan to make them pay for it. The family is going to need the wizard Shazam and each other to overcome this new threat before their world is doomed. Also, there’s a dragon in here, so that’s cool!
Needless to say, “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” looks to be a jam-packed film full of old faces and new ones too. Despite only having one film thus far, Billy has made many friends and enemies within the superhero and magical communities. Who can fans expect to see appear in the film? Let’s find out!
1. The Gods of Shazam
In the trailer, one of the Daughters of Atlas, Helen Mirren’s Hespera, says that the children have stolen the power of the gods and that she takes it personally. This would imply that prior to the film, Atlas’ daughters probably knew the beings that empower Shazam quite well. Those beings include the biblical figure Solomon, the Greek gods Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and the Roman god, Mercury. Seeing that the sisters had the wizard imprisoned in the trailer, we’re guessing that they aren’t too pleased with him having the powers of these beings, including Atlas, either.
With that in mind, we can almost certainly guarantee that we’ll see the gods that grant Shazam his powers appearing in the film. There’s also been an update on IMDb that Atlas will be played by Derek Russo. The film is titled “Fury of the Gods”, it would be weird if we didn’t see any of the gods in Shazam’s pantheon here! Technically all the Greek gods should be dead as Hippolyta mentioned in “Wonder Woman”, so chances are they’ll only be appearing in flashbacks. Maybe Solomon and Mercury will show up to see the kids in the now. We’re hoping to also find out how the wizard managed to acquire their powers to give to his new champions.
2. Merlin (Disguised as Wonder Woman)
It has been confirmed by Screen Rant that Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman will be making a cameo in “Shazam! Fury of the Gods”. There’ll be a comedic scene in which Shazam and Wonder Woman are having dinner in Paris before she transforms into the wizard Merlin who warns Billy about the Daughters of Atlas in a dream. A fun cameo for sure, but it does play an important part in further building on the magical mythology of the DCU. We know that the legendary wizard Merlin does in fact exist in this universe now. We’re curious to see if the Arthurian sorcerer is also one of the members of the Council of Wizards from the Rock of Eternity depicted in 2019’s “Shazam!”.
Long before the Justice League and the Justice Society, they defended the Earth from mystical and demonic threats. Sadly, the wizard Shazam mentioned that he is the only living member of the council. Could Merlin, a now-deceased member, be appearing to Billy to warn him of the coming threat? Or will Merlin appear in the flesh in “Fury of the Gods”? We’ll have to wait to find out.
Fun fact: in DC Comics Merlin, much like the wizard Shazam, imbues a man named Jason Blood with magical powers…except it’s from a demon called Etrigan. Fingers crossed, we’ll get to see him too!
3. Mr Mind
In the mid-credits scene in 2019’s “Shazam!”, we see the villainous Dr Sivana being locked away in prison. There he encounters a magical caterpillar named Mr Mind. Sivana reacts to the bug by saying “What in God’s name?” and Mind replies by saying “I name the gods, not the other way around“. The scene ends with Mr Mind telling Sivana that “the seven realms are about to be ours.” It’s clear that the first film had set up Mr Mind to play a pivotal role in future “Shazam!” films, so for him not to be featured in “Fury of the Gods” is confusing. Or perhaps they’re saving him for a big reveal?
The fact that Mr Mind says that he named the gods seems to indicate that he played some role in gathering the powers of the gods for the wizard Shazam. While he isn’t in the trailer, could he be the true mastermind behind the Daughters of Atlas’ plot to reclaim the powers of Atlas and the gods? It doesn’t make sense that “Shazam!” would just set up Mr Mind’s reveal, only to leave him hanging. He’ll either be revealed to be the true puppet master behind the Daughters of Atlas or will appear with Sivana in a post-credits scene. One thing’s for certain, that bug has plans.
4. Black Adam
Alright, so we know that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has confirmed that Black Adam and Shazam will meet in a crossover film at some point in time. The two characters do have a shared history with Billy being the true successor to the wizard Shazam’s powers and Black Adam failing in his duties in being champion. He also was the one responsible for freeing the Seven Deadly Sins upon the world as shown in a scene from “Shazam!”. Ever since we saw that, we all knew that a fight between these two is inevitable. That being said, we don’t think we’ll see Black Adam go toe-to-toe with Shazam in a post-credits scene.
The Rock has made it clear that his focus is on setting up the fight between him and the Man of Steel himself, played by Henry Cavill. Does this mean he won’t appear in the film? We’re willing to bet that he gets a brief appearance in a post-credits scene in which he learns about Billy taking his place as the new Champion of Magic. To have him meet Shazam and challenge him would be too much fan service, especially after Superman showed up at Adam’s doorstep. The Rock will do just enough to tease the possibility of a future fight between them and nothing more.
Also, here’s a fun Instagram post from “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” director Adam F. Sandberg’s official account showing a comic of the Rock stalking him. It’s titled “Totally True Tales from Shazam 2: Part 3”! Sounds like Sandberg and the Rock could have something cooking in “Fury of the Gods”.
5. A Member of the Justice League
We’ve seen in James Gunn’s “Peacemaker” this year that the “Justice League” is still active with Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash and Aquaman appearing in the first season finale. Furthermore, Superman and Shazam appear to already know each other in the DCU with both of them surprising Freddy, played by Jack Dylan Grazer, at the cafeteria. It’s clear that these cameos of the Justice League are fun, little nods to the audience to let us know that the team is still alive. With that in mind, we’re expecting to see another one in “Fury of the Gods”.
It’s possible that Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman fakeout is the only one but we’re holding out that Shazam may get a visit from one of the Justice League members inviting him to join their ranks. Shazam actor Zachary Levi has mentioned that he’d jump at the opportunity to be part of a future Justice League film if offered. With the DCU franchise under new management, perhaps we’ll see Shazam join the wider superhero community!
