Warner Bos. shared some new footage from Shazam! Fury of the Gods during their CinemaCon presentation this week, and it’s reignited the excitement for the incoming superhero sequel. While 2019’s Shazam! wasn’t the biggest movie of all time, it won itself a lot of fans thanks to its big heart and goofy energy that offered the perfect antidote to the gloom of the rest of the DCEU.
Thankfully, Fury of the Gods promises to double down on what made the first one such a joy and then some. Alongside Zachary Levi and the rest of the returning leads, West Side Story breakout Rachel Zegler is joining the cast for the new movie. Taking to Twitter following its CinemaCon showcase, Zegler praised Shazam! 2 as a “cinematic masterpiece” that sports some big themes.
“[T]he thing about [Shazam! 2],” the actress wrote, “is that it’s a cinematic masterpiece that will subvert expectations of superhero films and emphasize the importance of both blood AND chosen family and the way we view the world when we cultivate love in our hearts despite our circumstances.”
The first Shazam! already had a lot to say about families, thanks to Billy Batson (Asher Angel) finding himself a home among his newfound foster parents and siblings after he’s abandoned by his biological mother. Zegler is set to board the DCEU in a currently unnamed role as one of the daughters of Greek god Atlas, with Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu playing her villainous older sisters Hespera and Calypso. So expect some more complicated family dynamics to come from those three.
While CinemaCon’s exclusive previews haven’t been released officially online, details on the Shazam! 2 footage confirms that the movie will feature a Wonder Woman cameo (albeit not in the way we expected) and sport a much bigger, more mythological scope. Though originally scheduled for next summer, thanks to Aquaman 2 being pushed back, Shazam! Fury of the Gods will now blast into theaters this December 16. And it looks like we’re in for something special.
