In a new interview, David Sandberg, the director for both Shazam! films, shared how he feels the upcoming sequel, Fury of the Gods, is similar to the MCU's Avengers outings.
The Zachary Levi-led sequel is the next DCU project from Warner Bros., with only a few weeks to go before its release. Sadly, its box office prospects aren’t looking very good.
That’s likely thanks to the uncertainty regarding the character’s place in James Gunn’s new DCU.
Either way, fans should still be ready for a fun new adventure with Billy Batson—one that might remind fans of the best MCU outings.
Shazam! Meets the Avengers... Sort of
In an interview with GamesRadar, Shazam! Fury of the Gods director David Sandberg commented on his upcoming film while also comparing it to some of Marvel Studios’ epic crossovers.
Sandberg noted that the film is like “a mini-Avengers movie” thanks to its “many characters:”
“It’s like a mini-Avengers movie… That’s how I saw it because there are so many characters. You have all these heroes, you have the villains, you have the monsters… It’s a lot of movie packed into its runtime. And it’s complicated. Just shooting and staging up to 11 characters in a scene... Where do you put everyone? It’s really hard!”
The director went on to share that this time around, Shazam! Was given “more resources” than the original film, allowing them to “compete with the other superhero movies:”
“On the first one, we had a lower budget, and it was a smaller movie… It felt like, ‘We can’t really compete with the other superhero movies for action and scale, so we have to focus on character and humour – what makes it different.’ On this one we got more resources so we could actually compete with the other superhero movies.”
Despite the increased scale, the story is still a personal one, focusing on how "Billy [is] afraid of losing his family:”
“The story is very much about Billy being afraid of losing this family… He found a family in the first movie, and now they’re getting old enough to have to move out of a group home and start getting jobs. So he’s terrified. They have to balance their regular lives of going to school and having jobs with being superheroes. It’s tough for them.”
Can Shazam Pull Off its Larger Cast?
Juggling a large cast is not an easy thing to do. It’s a miracle that movies like Captain America: Civil War or Avengers: Endgame were pulled off in the first place.
Fans just have to look at 2021’s Eternals to see an example of a large cast not getting their due.
The first Shazam! did a good job with its cast, so it’s not impossible to assume its sequel can handle a slightly bigger roster and more screen time for everyone involved.
While fans might not know the future of Shazam, there are plenty of reasons to remain hopeful of his return down the line.
For one, the film’s producer is Peter Safran, one of the co-leads for DC Studios. Secondly, the series does kind of sit in its own corner of the DCU—so a soft reboot could easily pick up the best pieces of both movies.
Though, there are also complications. The leading star has been stirring up controversy on the internet, while the cast as a whole is quickly outgrowing their characters.
One thing is for sure: for anyone that wants to see more of the character, make sure to see Shazam! Fury of the Gods when it lands in theaters on March 1, 2023
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