The best comic book movies manage to appeal to not just staunch fans of the genre, but casual audiences, too. With that in mind, hearing that one of the top-billed stars from next month’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods actually doesn’t have a clue what the movie is about isn’t the most encouraging sign.
Box office projections haven’t been particularly encouraging, either, with David F. Sandberg’s sequel currently tracking for a lower opening weekend, weaker domestic gross, and substandard global tally than its predecessor. As the first feature of the James Gunn and Peter Safran – albeit one that was made before their appointment as co-CEOs – Fury of the Gods could prove to be inessential in the grand scheme of the DCU, which might be a blessing in disguise.
In an appearance on The Graham Norton show scheduled to air later tonight, Helen Mirren was asked the fairly straightforward question of summarizing the plot and how her villainous Hespera fits in, which left her utterly stumped in a solid thumbs-up of the storyline.
“Don’t ask me about the plot, it’s too complicated. Lucy Liu and I] are angry goddesses wearing unbelievably heavy costumes. It was very hot and uncomfortable and in fact, Lucy said at the end of the first day’s shooting, ‘They are trying to kill us,’ in all seriousness. I wanted to do it because I loved the first Shazam! It was sweet and funny. I am not a big superhero-type person, but I loved the idea of it and happily signed up for the second one. It is great.”
Mirren has earned the right to do whatever she wants at this stage in her career, and having first boarded the Fast & Furious franchise for no other reason than she wanted to, it appears Shazam! Fury of the Gods scratched a similar itch, plot be damned.
