Zachary Levi’s antagonists in the next Shazam! movie are certainly set to be formidable foes. The DC superhero will reportedly face off against a pair of mythological sisters in Shazam: Fury Of The Gods, with two delightfully sinister choices for the main villains in the sequel to the 2019 hit.
According to Variety, Lucy Liu has landed a role in the Shazam! sequel alongside Helen Mirren, as the two will team up to take down Levi.
The “Elementary” and “Why Women Kill” star has joined the DC Comics adaptation “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” as the villain Kalypso, the sister of Helen Mirren’s villainous character Hespera.
Along with Liu and Mirren, the core filmmaking team from 2019’s “Shazam!” is returning for the sequel, including Zachary Levi as the eponymous superhero Shazam!, and Asher Angel as his teenage alter ego Billy Batson. David F. Sandberg is returning to direct the film, from a screenplay by Henry Gayden. Peter Safran is producing with his shingle the Safran Company.
As Variety noted, Liu’s character doesn’t really have much to do with the DC Comics universe. Instead, she’s derived more directly from the Greek gods that Shazam bases his powers on. That would give the movie a bit more wiggle room to make the baddie what they want it to be, of course, while also getting people who earned a Classics minor in college something to look forward to.
As word broke on Monday, Shazam: Fury Of The Gods director David Sandberg shared a photoshop of Liu’s Kill Bill character holding the severed head of Levi.
— David F. Sandberg (@ponysmasher) April 12, 2021
That’s about as official as it gets for casting confirmations, honestly.
[via Variety]