WITH all the recent turmoil going on in the DC movie universe, people had all but forgotten about the sequel to 2019’s Shazam. In fact, the film’s release had been delayed twice for various reasons, which further served to push the film out of the spotlight.
Ironically, that may in fact work in the film’s favour, as Shazam 2: Fury of the Gods is best experienced with little to no expectations, least of all about the film’s place in the larger DC Universe. Director David F. Sandberg understood that what audiences resonated with in the first film was the family dynamic and the relationships between the characters, and the sequel definitely puts that front and centre.
Picking up two years after the events of the previous film, we see two of the daughters of Atlas, Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu) breaking into a museum to steal the pieces of the staff that was broken by Shazam (Zachary Levi) during his climactic fight with the villain Sivana.
We also get to see how enthusiastically the members of the Shazam Family have taken to their new life as superheroes, in a bridge rescue sequence that shows off all their powers. Unfortunately, they’ve also gained a reputation for destroying public property during their efforts, earning them the title of the Philly Fiascos.
