“We’re gonna need more Skittles” — Shazam!: Fury of the Gods

From August 2017 – January 2020, Keith R.A. DeCandido took a weekly look at every live-action movie based on a superhero comic that had been made to date in the Superhero Movie Rewatch. He’s periodically revisited the feature to look back at new releases, as well as a few he missed the first time through.

After a string of movies that were, at best, uneven in terms of quality and/or financial success, and all of which were incredibly serious and dramatic and heavy, 2019’s Shazam! (along with 2018’s Aquaman) proved to a breath of fresh air in the DC Extended Universe that kicked off six years earlier with Man of Steel. A sequel was green-lit almost instantly.

Like so many films, the Shazam! sequel, subtitled Fury of the Gods, was delayed by the apocalypse of 2020, as filming was originally scheduled to start in the summer of that year. However, contrary to expectations when it was announced that Dwayne Johnson was also starring in the title role of a Black Adam film, Black Adam is not the villain in this one. And, contrary to the expectations set by the closing of Shazam!, Doctor Sivana and Mr. Mind aren’t, either.

Indeed, there is no mention or reference to Black Adam anywhere in this film beyond a brief reference to the Justice Society in the mid-credits scene (a scene that was originally intended to be at the end of Black Adam, but Johnson nixed it). Sivana and Mr. Mind at least make an after-credits cameo, promising their return in a third film. That third film’s likelihood is not known, given that the film itself did poorly at the box office (as have many big-budget films in these post-pandemic times), not to mention the reorganization of the DCEU under James Gunn and Peter Safran (though the latter is also the producer of the the Shazam! and Aquaman films, as well as The Suicide Squad).

Having eschewed the character’s three primary comics villains, the story instead leaned into Shazam’s mythical roots by having the antagonists be the three daughters of Atlas from Greek lore. They cast the great Dame Helen Mirren and the amazing Lucy Liu as two of them, with Rachel Zegler, fresh off her Golden Globe Award-winning turn as Maria in 2021’s West Side Story, as the third sister.

Back from Shazam! are Zachary Levi and Asher Angel as the two versions of Billy Batson, Jack Dylan Grazer and Adam Brody as the two versions of Freddy Freeman, Ross Butler and Ian Chen as the two versions of Eugene Choi, D.J. Cotrona and Jovan Armand as the two versions of Pedro Peña, Meagan Good and Faithe Herman as the two versions of Darla Dudley, Grace Caroline Currey as both versions of Mary Bromfield (the only one of the Shazam family who isn’t played by two different actors, with Michelle Borth not returning despite having signed a multi-picture deal), Marta Milans and Cooper Adams as foster parents Rosa and Victor Vásquez, Mark Strong as Sivana, and director David F. Sandberg as the voice of Mr. Mind (the latter two in a post-credits scene).

Back from Black Adam are Djimon Honsou as the wizard and Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt. Back from the Peacemaker TV series is Steve Agee as John Economos. Back from Wonder Woman 1984 is Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Also in this film are Rizwan Manji as a docent, Diedrich Bader as a teacher, P.J. Byrne as a pediatrician, and Michael Gray—who played Billy Batson in The Shazam/Isis Hour in the 1970s—as a civilian who calls Billy “Captain Marvel.”

With the DCEU in flux, as stated before, it’s unclear what the future of Shazam! films even is.

“Fun is for children, dear—we are at war!”

Shazam!: Fury of the Gods
Written by Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan
Directed by David F. Sandberg
Produced by Peter Safran
Original release date: March 17, 2023

In Greece, a docent is giving a tour of an exhibit, which includes the two pieces of the wizard’s staff, which Billy Batson broke in Shazam! The docent comments that it was found in a garbage dump in Philadelphia. Two people dressed in ancient armor break into the case containing the staff, which inexplicably doesn’t set off any alarms. A security guard runs in from another room, but one of the two people, Kalypso, uses her godly powers to hypnotize the guard into causing chaos. That chaos spreads through the gallery, which is soon locked down by museum security. The other thief, Hespera, turns all the people in the gallery to stone.

The sisters return to the Realm of the Gods, where they have imprisoned the wizard. They force him to repair the staff, though a splinter of it winds up under the wizard’s fingernail. Now the sisters need to find the seed of the tree, and they must also be ready for the wizard’s champion.

Said champion is visiting his pediatrician—who, of course, doesn’t recognize him—and attempting to get psychological help from him. He and the other members of the family, who have been dubbed “the Philadelphia Fiascoes” by the media due to their varying levels of competence, have continued to try to protect the city. We see them engage in a rescue at the Benjamin Franklin Bridge—while they fail to keep the bridge from collapsing, they do save everyone’s lives.

Later, in the Rock of Eternity—a realm the family can access through any door, and which also has multiple doors leading to various places—Billy does a post-game analysis, which the others are barely interested in. Indeed, the family is bristling under Billy’s almost smothering leadership, and his insistence on the one rule of “all or none,” that they will do everything together.

Billy is also concerned because he’s coming up on eighteen, which means he’ll age out of the foster care program. Mary has already aged out, and she’s been working and paying rent while going to college. Billy thinks that’s silly—Wonder Woman doesn’t work, at least he doesn’t think she does—but Mary insists on helping the Vásquezes out.

A dream Billy has about a date with Wonder Woman is interrupted by the wizard, who has used the splinter of the staff to contact Billy through his dream and warn him about the daughters of Atlas.

At school, Freddy meets a new girl named Anne, and they’re both very taken with each other. Two bullies try to hit on Anne, and Freddy interpolates himself in, despite the risk. The bullies bend his crutch and threaten to toss him into the garbage can before a teacher intervenes. (Said teacher assures Freddy that he took up residence in that garbage can when he attended the school.) Anne is impressed by his bravado, and also queries him about the reference to him by the bullies as “Thundercrack Make-a-Wish.” Freddy explains that a couple superheroes sat at lunch with him a while back, as seen at the end of Shazam! Billy interrupts Freddy having lunch with Anne at that very table to say they need to have a family meeting.

Billy shares the dream with the rest of the family, and Pedro reveals that there’s a library, complete with a sentient pen (whom Pedro has named “Steve”) that knows everything. Eugene is a bit put out that Pedro never mentioned this, since he’s been exploring the various doors and figuring out where they go.

With Steve’s help they do some research, and discover that the staff that Billy broke and tossed away (and subsequently forgot all about until now) was what kept the gods imprisoned by the council of wizards. The wizards were able to confer the power of the gods to others, which is when the family finally learns what “Shazam” is an acronym for.

(The fact that Solomon isn’t a god is not mentioned, though Mary has to correct Billy’s mispronunciation of the Biblical king as “Solo Man.”)

They also discover that there are three daughters of Atlas—and one of them looks just like the girl Freddy was talking to at school.

Freddy has taken Anne—whose full name is Anthea—to the roof of the school, which is a place he goes to think, in lieu of attending the family meeting. Freddy then “calls” his alter-ego on the phone, and then he “appears” and talks up how great Freddy is to Anne.

However, it’s a trap. Kalypso zaps Freddy with the staff, and he reverts to his kid form. The teacher from earlier comes to the roof to see what the commotion is about, and Kalypso makes him walk off the roof to his death.

The rest of the family arrives, but they are unable to save Freddy. Hespera puts a magical dome around the city, which keeps Billy from getting to Freddy. The sisters return to the Realm of the Gods and toss Freddy into the same cell as the wizard.

Darla learns that you can write a letter to the gods using parchment they have in the library, folded into the form of a bird. They send a bird letter to Hespera—which Steve transcribes literally, thus leading to great confusion on Hespera’s part when she reads it—asking for an exchange.

Billy and Hespera meet at an outdoor restaurant, and while the meeting starts cordially, Hespera makes it clear that she will not tolerate her and her family’s powers being stolen by a bunch of children. She and Kalypso fight the family with Kalypso zapping Pedro with the staff, reverting him to kid form as well. However, the family does manage to defeat Hespera and bring her to the Rock of Eternity. The new plan is to exchange Hespera for Freddy—but it turns out that Hespera got captured on purpose, as the seed of the tree of life is in the Rock of Eternity.

With no more use for the wizard or Freddy, the sisters toss them into the pit with Ladon the dragon. However, Anthea rescues them, enabling them to escape.

When Hespera returns with the seed, the sisters argue over its disposition. Hespera and Anthea want to restore the Realm of the Gods, but Kalypso wants to plant the seed on Earth, which will cause tremendous chaos and death. Freddy and the wizard—who are having trouble finding the egress—discover this and try to steal the seed. While Freddy’s attempted stealthy theft is found out, he does manage to touch the staff with his crutch and say “Shazam!” which restores his powers.

The family tries to figure out which door Hespera might have taken when she absconded with the seed. When they go for one door, Eugene says not to bother, it’s just a big maze, and Mary reminds them that the labyrinth is a thing in Greek myth.

Sure enough, that’s the door to the Realm of the Gods. Billy and the rest of the family show up and take the staff and the seed. Kalypso takes the staff back, but the family escapes with the seed. Kalypso frees Ladon. The family run back to the Rock of Eternity and then into the house proper, waking up the Vásquezes to reveal that they’re really the Philadelpha Fiascoes. (Pedro also reveals that he’s gay, which everyone already knew, to Pedro’s surprise.) Ladon destroys the house and goes on a rampage, zapping each of the family in turn save for Billy and Mary. Mary tries to fly off with the seed, but Kalypso zaps her, and she plummets to the Earth. Billy saves her, but now Kalypso has the seed.

Kalypso rides Ladon to Citizens Bank Park and plants the seed, which causes all manner of creatures from myth to appear. Hespera and Anthea are appalled, but Kalypso has Ladon stab Hespera in the heart and then takes Anthea’s powers away.

All kinds of creatures from mythology—minotaurs, cyclopses, etc.—show up on the streets of Philadelphia. The Vásquezes and the now-de-powered family do their best to help. When they ask Steve for help, the pen writes that the monsters are all scared of unicorns, who can be lured with ambrosia. Darla—who loves unicorns—hits on the notion of luring one with Skittles, which works. The unicorn then summons other unicorns, and the family ride the unicorns into battle, goring the creatures right and left.

Billy, meanwhile, comes up with a plan when he realizes that his lightning powers charge up the staff. He’s going to overload the staff, turning it into a bomb; but he needs the dying Hespera’s help. She agrees to compress the dome so it only covers Citizens Bank Park. Billy lures Kalypso and Ladon there, and then he zaps the hell out of the staff, with the final blast coming from the lightning strike that occurs when he says, “Shazam!”

There’s a huge explosion, taking out Kalypso, Ladon, and Billy. The staff is now inert.

They bury Billy in the Realm of the Gods, but then Wonder Woman shows up (Billy had written her a bird letter, also). She is able to re-power the staff and bring Billy back to life.

The family rebuild the house (with a new sign that says, “No Shazamming in the house”). Anthea intends to rebuild the Realm of the Gods, but she wants to spend time on Earth, too, to get to know humanity. She and Freddy are also dating. The wizard also shows up and takes the staff back for safekeeping—he, too, intends to spend some time on Earth.

At some indeterminate future point, Billy is in a remote location zapping bottles for some reason, and John Economos and Emilia Harcourt of Task Force X try to recruit him for the Justice Society. Since that’s not the one with Wonder Woman, Billy isn’t interested. He also thinks that having a Justice Society and a Justice League is unnecessarily confusing…

Finally, Mr. Mind shows up at Doctor Sivana’s cell in the asylum. Sivana is pissed that it’s been two years with no movement on Mr. Mind’s big plan; Mr. Mind points out that he’s a tiny worm and he doesn’t move that fast. But soon!

“There’s only so many minotaurs I can run over with this van”

First of all, let me say that, holy cow, was this movie not filmed in Philadelphia. My wife is from the Philly area, and I’ve been lots of times, and I also go to Atlanta pretty regularly (for Dragon Con, among other reasons), and it’s so incredibly blindingly obvious that they filmed this movie in the latter and not the former.

Anyhow, the biggest problem I had with Shazam! was the disconnect between the character Zachary Levi was playing and the character Asher Angel was playing, which was a problem insofar as they were supposed to be the same person. Angel gave us a nuanced, damaged teenager, while Levi was playing a dim-witted goofball.

It is therefore disappointing—but not at all surprising—that they leaned more heavily on Levi (who is, after all, the star of the show), and relegated Angel’s role to a glorified cameo with screen time that can be numbered in minutes.

The problem is a script that desperately wants to address issues of anxiety over abandonment, but which (a) doesn’t really get into it in anywhere near the depth as the first movie did, and (b) is very much not in the wheelhouse of the persona Levi has created for the protagonist.

Honestly, (a) is the bigger issue here. The first film had a depth of feeling and of character that is wholly missing from this sequel. More to the point, the first film was very much about the power (both positive and negative) of family, where Fury of the Gods just talks about family without really getting into it in any meaningful way.

Worse, the movie is unwilling to commit itself to being the Shazam family film that the climax of the prior film promised. Instead, the movie goes out of its way to marginalize and/or write out the rest of the family in order to make sure that Billy does all the cool stuff. (Freddy does a lot of cool stuff, too, but it’s all almost entirely as teen Freddy, not super-powered Freddy. And I will say that the banter between him and Djimon Honsou’s all-out-of-fucks-to-give wizard is one of the film’s high points.) The worst is in the fight against Hespera where the daughter of Atlas wraps Mary and Darla in electrical wire and they just sit there helpless. For whatever reason, Hespera doesn’t do the same to Billy and Billy gets to save the two girls. Sigh. Worse, we barely see the fightin’ unicorns, which promises to be a crowning moment of awesome, but it only lasts for a second before we cut back to Billy, and then the next time we see them is when Billy has saved the day and all the creatures disappear.

Speaking of Hespera, one of the joys of watching this movie is watching Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu do their Evil Sisters of Evil act. The pair of them are obviously having a grand old time, and they definitely make for excellent bad guys. And I have to admit to laughing my ass off when Mirren solemnly reads the letter from the family, which includes every digression and weird thought and correction transcribed literally.

As a straight-up superhero story, this works, as the plot actually follows nicely from the character’s mythological roots and the events of the previous film. But as a movie about a family of superheroes, it’s far less than it should’ve been.

We’re gonna be taking the rest of the year off for the holidays. We’ll be back on the 3rd of January 2024 with Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3. May you all have a safe and fabulous season and a joyous new year!

Keith R.A. DeCandido’s recent work includes short stories in the magazine Star Trek Explorer (issues #8 and 9) and in the anthologies Weird Tales: 100 Years of Weird, The Four ???? of the Apocalypse, Joe Ledger: Unbreakable, and The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny.