Shazam! Fury of the Gods opens up this corner of the DC universe in a major way, thanks to diving deep into Greek myths by introducing the Daughters of Atlas as the titular aged-up superhero’s new nemeses. Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu are on villain duty in the comic book sequel as Hespera and Kalypso, with Rachel Zegler playing their good guy sister Anthea, who joins with Zachary Levi’s Billy Batson and the Shazamily to stop her wayward siblings.
If Zegler had her way, however, Shazam! 2 wouldn’t be the last time we see the trio in the DCU. In a new interview with Extra, the West Side Story star shared an epic pitch for a spinoff focusing on the three goddesses that would take pointers from — *checks notes* — Muppet Babies? As Barry Allen might say, stop right there — we’re in.
Upon being asked for her thoughts on what could be next for the Daughters of Atlas in DC-land, Zegler dropped her bombshell idea:
‘Yeah, I think it would be like Baby Muppets [laughs]. It’d be like Baby Muppets but it’d be the baby goddesses, which I don’t know how that would work but I think we could make it work. Anything’s possible.”
When Liu questioned if she was wanting to do a prequel, Zegler confirmed that was exactly what she had in mind.
“Yeah, it’s a prequel! I want the prequel story where you guys, after our dad has died and our mom’s not around, you guys have to raise me.”
Clearly getting into it, Liu then suggested the film’s opening scene could be set at the funeral of their father Atlas, which led to Zegler admitting her second inspiration for the spinoff: Three Men and a Baby. “Yeah, and it’s like Three Guys and a Baby,” she quipped. “I’m the baby.”
Helen Mirren, for her part, only had one stipulation to guarantee her involvement in such a project. “And that’s where we get to wear the long, comfortable, flowing white dresses,” the knighted actress joked, referencing her revelation earlier in the interview that her heavy armored costume in Fury of the Gods was a pain to wear.
While all three actresses sound all over this spinoff idea, the future of the Shazam! franchise is unfortunately hanging in the balance right now, amid James Gunn’s total DCU restructuring and this movie looking set to underwhelm at the box office (despite not receiving the worst reviews). If you want the adventures of Anthea to continue, you might want to catch Shazam! Fury of the Gods yourself, in theaters as of March 17.
Published: Mar 16, 2023 11:45 am