Shazam 2 star Asher Angel, who plays the young Billy Batson, talks about how Fury of the Gods is better and a step-up from the first movie. While the DCEU is going through changes behind the scenes, some franchises are still going forward, and Shazam! is one of them. Shazam!, which was released back in April 2019, focused on the story of an orphan named Billy Batson who gains a new family but also the powers of a god, turning him into the titular hero.
With Zachary Levi playing the grown-up version of Billy, Shazam! was a critical and commercial success for Warner Bros. The studio didn't wait long to greenlight a sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, from director David F. Sandberg once again. Angel and Levi are both back sharing the role of Billy, but so is also the entire Shazam family, as they now take on a triple threat in the form of the daughters of Atlas, portrayed by Rachel Zegler, Lucy Liu, and Helen Mirren.
While Shazam! Fury of the Gods is stepping it up on the villain territory, that turns out to be just one of the improvements on the first movie. At San Diego Comic-Con 2022, Screen Rant chatted with the Shazam! Fury of the Gods team, with Angel being one of the attending stars. When Angel was asked how Shazam 2 as a DCEU movie takes it to the next level, he stresses that the action is bigger and "everything you want in a superhero movie," sharing the following:
It feels incredible. People have been waiting for this movie. It's bigger, it's better, and there's more action-packed scenes. It's literally everything you want in a superhero movie. There's so much heart, and there's so much fun. It's such a fun movie, so I think people are really going to be excited to see it. Get ready.
With Shazam! Fury of the Gods having Atlas' daughters clashing with the magic-based family, it's definitely a major upgrade from the first Shazam! movie. In the 2019 installment, Billy took on one of his other familiar villains from the comics, with Mark Strong as the vicious Dr. Thaddeus Sivana. While many thought that Shazam! Fury of the Gods would perhaps feature Levi's titular hero going up against Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam, the DCEU went in a different direction. Johnson's Black Adam movie will come out exactly two months before Shazam! Fury of the Gods does, after some schedule reshuffling by Warner Bros.
Angel isn't wrong in saying that Shazam! Fury of the Gods is raising the bar, as the trailer has made clear the movie's ambitions when it comes to action. Even with the daughters of Atlas as the primary villains, it wouldn't be shocking if the Shazam! sequel somehow does tie in with Black Adam due to the release schedule shifts. Despite how many times that question has been dodged by actors and directors, it's inevitable that Black Adam and Shazam will eventually clash on the big screen, most likely in a potential Shazam 3 movie. Until that happens, Shazam! Fury of the Gods will have the family occupied by the daughters of Atlas this Christmas.
