Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a 2023 American superhero film based on the DC character Shazam. Produced by New Line Cinema, DC Studios, and the Safran Company, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is the sequel to Shazam! (2019) and the 12th installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Directed by David F. Sandberg and written by Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan, it stars Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler, Adam Brody, Ross Butler, D. J. Cotrona, Grace Caroline Currey, Meagan Good, Lucy Liu, Djimon Hounsou, and Helen Mirren. In the film, Billy Batson / Shazam and his foster siblings fight the Daughters of Atlas. A sequel to Shazam! began development shortly after its release in April 2019, with Gayden returning as writer, and Morgan joining soon after to revise Gayden's screenplay. Sandberg and Levi (Shazam) were also set to return by that December. The title and the rest of the returning cast were confirmed in August 2020, with Zegler, Mirren and Liu cast as the daughters of Atlas in early 2021. Filming began that May in Atlanta, Georgia, and concluded in August. Shazam! Fury of the Gods premiered at the Fox Village Theatre in Los Angeles on March 14, 2023, and was released in the United States on March 17. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who considered it inferior to its predecessor. It was also a box-office bomb, grossing $134 million worldwide against a production budget of $110–125 million.
Let's have more of it. We can do nothing while the staff remains sundered. The champions of this realm outnumber us. Human champions are still humans and we are gods. Do not underestimate the judgement of the wizard. To protect the power of the gods, he will have chosen with meticulous precision the strongest, most keenly intelligent champions this realm has ever witnessed. I'm an idiot. I don't deserve these powers, if I'm being honest. Like, what am I even contributing? There's already a superhero with a red suit, with a lightning bolt on it and I'm fast, but he's faster. Aquaman is literally huge, and he's so manly and Batman is so cool! And I'm just me. And I can't say this to anyone else, 'cause my family looks to me as a leader, but I feel like a fraud. You understand I'm a... pediatrician, right? I mean, yeah, well, you were recommended by another patient, Billy Batson. It doesn't matter. Can you help fix my thoughts so that they just, like, you know, stop happening? All right, look. And, again, pediatrician, not a psychiatrist, but it sounds to me like you're experiencing imposter syndrome. And often, that originates from trauma early in life, so if you don't mind me asking, how well do you remember your childhood? Like it was today. [chuckles]
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Trauma? Uh, I don't know. I mean, I never met my dad. Uh, my mom abandoned me at a Christmas carnival. I spent a lot of time in the foster system, ran away from 11 homes, got into a lot of fights. Then I was abducted by a wizard who gave me superpowers and then dude just, like, died in front of my face. That's not a small amount. A doctor conjured seven demons and held my whole family hostage, so we had to rip out one of his eyeballs, and then everybody got superpowers, but now everyone's kind of, like, doing their own thing and I'm the only one trying to keep everybody together. Okay, okay. Well, let's just process that. Right? Rejected by your parents, then by the system, and now rejected by a city you try to protect. I never said I was rejected by my city.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
I suck balls at this. [guns firing in video game] Why do we always have to play war games? Hey, it's practice for our other job. -[scoffs] -I'm serious. Military strategy, multiple team members, each with a special skillset unleashed against an unknown enemy. [Victor] I know how it sounds, but the house keeps getting struck by lightning, Leo. I'm telling you. Besides, you're the one always talking about teamwork. -But we don't need guns! -[gasps] [Mary] Darla? [Freddy] This is it. This is big time. -We are the guns. -[Mary] Darla! Why were there Skittles in my pockets? It was supposed to be a surprise. It was. Hmm, she's very moody lately. Why do you think I put Skittles in her pocket? -Oh. -[Rosa] Whoo! Ole. [Victor] Is this an army of unicorns -killing Genghis Khan? -Yes. Unicorns aren't real. It's called speculative history, Eugene. Look it up. [Eugene] Billy, you can't just leave. Your guy's gonna die! Whoo! [laughs] [chattering on tv] -See? -Yes. I told you you would get into it if you gave it a chance. Yeah, I'm really starting to see the appeal.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Dude, what are you doing? [officer on headphones] Possible 10-99 in progress. Multiple reports of cracking on roadway. Fraying suspension cables. All units to the Ben Franklin Bridge. Yeah. It's crazy music, Freddy. It is, isn't it? Very urgent melody to it. We should see it performed live. I was thinking the same thing. I feel like we can get tickets to that concert. Two. Maybe not six. All or none. That's the rule. Yet I'm still gonna walk backwards now. So, now's your last and final chance. Billy Batson, come with me. No, no, no! Man, it sure is a beautiful day in Philadelphia! [sighs] Is it though? -Almost finished. -Again? -Okay. -[Mary] This better be good. [Eugene sighs] Whoa, whoa! Where's everyone going? -[Freddy clears throat] -Um... To fight crime?
Shazam! Fury of the Gods