It looks like the Shazam Family is changing the status quo with one of its members in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, as Grace Fulton will be pulling double-duty in the Shazam 2 cast. Billy Batson got his cinematic debut in 2019 with Asher Angel playing the teenage side while Zachary Levi portrayed the adult version. However, Shazam also introduced Billy's foster family, featuring Freddy, Mary, Eugene, Pedro, and Darla. As Billy got his origin story in becoming the famous DC hero, so did his foster siblings as Shazam shared his powers with them, turning them into adult superheroes as well. Shazam's commercial and critical success made Warner Bros. quick to greenlight a sequel, and Shazam 2 is set to release on March 17, 2023.
While most story details are being kept under wraps, the Shazam Family will be taking on the daughters of Atlas, which consists of Helen Mirren's Hespera, Lucy Liu's Kalypso, and Rachel Zegler's mystery character. Had it not been for the global pandemic, the Shazam sequel would have begun filming much sooner. Among the changes that Shazam 2 is making from the first installment are the heroes' super-suits, as director David Sandberg unveiled their upgraded looks. The costume change wasn't the only big takeaway, as fans noticed that Fulton was suited up as the super version of Mary. While Sandberg confirmed via Twitter that Fulton would be playing both versions of Mary, how does it work within the sequel's story?
What is important to remember about Shazam and the Shazam 2 cast is that Mary was the oldest one out of all the foster siblings, as she was either 17 or 18 years old at the point of the first film. Before Mary Marvel got her powers with the rest of the family, she was in the middle of planning her next chapter in life, as she had been accepted to Caltech. The idea that Mary is the only one who doesn't turn into an older version when using their powers is actually established in the Golden Age iteration of the heroine. That version of Mary Marvel was capable of accessing her powers without transforming into a grown-up version of herself. This was because Mary's original counterpart got her abilities from a whole different set of gods.
Mary Marvel's Unchanging Appearance Is Comic-Accurate
While the modern versions of Billy and Mary are foster siblings, they were originally twins in old-school Fawcett Comics. Despite the many retcons DC has done to the Shazam Family in general, that is something from which Shazam! 2/Fury of the Gods seems to be loosely drawing inspiration for Fulton's Mary. If Mary was close to turning 18 in the events of Shazam, perhaps the DCEU's take on their powers means that a user can choose their form once they are legally an adult. Should that be the case, it would logistically explain why Fulton has taken over for Michelle Borth, who played the adult Mary in the first film.
The Mary Marvel Double Casting Lines Up With A Bigger Comic Role
By keeping her appearance the same whether she's regular Mary or Mary Marvel, the Shazam movies seem to be giving the character a greater emphasis, implying that there's only a very fine line between her civilian and superhero selves. This aligns with a similar trend in DC Comics. The creators of New Champion of Shazam, Josie Campbell and Evan Shaner, have teased that the comic miniseries will throw a greater spotlight on Mary Marvel than she's gotten before and that the character could be headed in a bold new direction. While superhero movies and their comic book counterparts don't always go hand-in-hand, it seems that DC as a whole is striving to give Mary Marvel her due.
There could be other reasons as to why the Shazam 2 cast is going in this direction with Mary. It could simply be that they wanted to add something new to the Shazam mythology as it will be depicted in the DCEU movies' future. Perhaps Michelle Borth wasn't available for the sequel, making it possible for Sandberg to either recast the adult Mary or retool the character so that Fulton could play both. Shazam: Fury of the Gods' changing release date means that the wait for any explanation around Mary's new Shazam family status-quo is uncertain, although it seems like March 17, 2023, is the concrete date for finding out.
