Zachary Levi Wishes Shazam 2 Could Premiere Sooner Than 2023

Zachary Levi feels so good about Shazam: Fury of the Gods, he wishes it was coming out sooner than 2023. 2019’s Shazam first introduced audiences to young hero Billy Batson (Asher Angel), and its sequel will give him his biggest adventure yet. Angel and Levi (as Billy’s adult superhero form) both return for Shazam 2 alongside most of the original cast and director David F. Sandberg. Originally scheduled to premiere in the spring 0f 2022, Shazam 2 saw itself pushed back considerably by the coronavirus pandemic. Production took place earlier this year.

Plot details for Shazam: Fury of the Gods are still being kept under wraps, but a few details have been revealed about the DCEU film. In terms of villains, Billy and his similarly powered foster siblings will go up against a pair of godly sisters: Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu). Exactly what these ladies want from the Shazam family remains to be seen. As Mirren accidentally confirmed recently, Hespera and Kalypso have a third sister in Rachel Zegler’s mystery character, though she could end up being more of an ally.

Sequels have a lot of expectations to live up to, but Levi seems to think Shazam: Fury of the Gods will blow the first movie away. Speaking to Collider ahead of his new movie American Underdog, Levi explained why he believes Shazam 2 will be even better than the original. He feels so strongly about it that he wishes fans could see it a lot sooner than June 2023. Levi said:

“I will say that I genuinely — and this is not just lip service — I’m really proud of the first one, I think we made a really, really good movie. I think the second one is better. I think that we had more time, we had more budget. We had, essentially, the entire cast returning, and we all knew our characters a little bit more; we could kind of sit into them a little bit more. Henry Gayden, who wrote the first script, wrote the second, and he did a fantastic job doing so. Everything just clicked even a little bit more and a little bit more. And also the kids have grown up a little bit more, so even the sensibilities of them become even slightly more mature which brings it closer to my or other people’s adult minds, so there’s even more connection there, I think. The action’s great, the comedy’s great, the relationships are great. The bad guys, Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu, are fantastic. I’m very proud of it. I want it to come out sooner than June of 2023.”

Summer 2023 is a long time to wait for Shazam 2, but it sounds like it will be worth it. The first Shazam was a light-hearted breath of fresh air for the DCEU, and now that Billy’s origin story has been taken care of, the sequel can really dig into a thrilling story. The presence of three goddesses certainly ups the stakes for the Shazam family, which should make for a richer conflict. Plus, as the cast has already made one movie together, they must feel much more comfortable with each other. Perhaps Levi has good reason to think highly of Shazam 2.

Sadly, though, his dreams of having it come out sooner likely won’t come to pass. DC has a jam-packed 2022 slate, starting with The Batman in March and ending with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in December. Scheduling aside, there’s still post-production and possible reshoots to work through. Still, if Shazam: Fury of the Gods is as good as Levi says it is, audiences won’t have any problems waiting to see it. Better take the time to make it perfect.

Source: Collider

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Rachel Labonte
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Rachel LaBonte is a news, feature, and movie review writer for Screen Rant with a deep passion for film and television. A graduate of Emerson College, she majored in Media Arts Production while specializing in screenwriting. She’s been a writer ever since high school when she realized she was rather good at it and joined as many entertainment news clubs as she could while in school. Most notably, she wrote for Emerson’s website Emertainment Monthly, and one of her film reviews won an Evvy (Emerson’s student awards) for Best Review. Her deep love of movies led to her working at a movie theater for five years, which she loved despite the angry customers. An avid reader who constantly buys books before reading the ones she already owns, Rachel is a huge fan of superheroes (especially of the Marvel variety) and wizards and will likely never be able to catch up on all the movies/TV shows she longs to watch.

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