DC’s Shazam is all set to welcome their brand new villain on board. This time, it gets legendary in every sense as actress Helen Mirren will be seen as the lead antagonist. She will be essaying the role of Hespera, a daughter of Atlas. The deal has been confirmed already and as news goes, she is all ready for the brand new journey. The sequel has been titled as, “Shazam: Fury of the Gods”
As the official description goes, Hespera is described as a daughter of Atlas. Though she doesn’t have a clear DC Comics counterpart, Atlas is the name given to several DC Comics characters, which are inspired by the Titan of Ancient Greek mythology. Mirren is the latest addition, as Rachel Zelger from “West Side Story” fame was already casted earlier in an undisclosed role.
Helen Mirren’s role will most definitely be legendary as the iconic actress has been given the role of a character straight out of Greek Mythology. This is not the first time; an actress of this stature has been offered the role of a villain. Marvel has already done this with Hela, in Thor: Ragnarok.
Cate Blanchett essayed the role of Hela, the Goddess of Death and anyone who has watched the movie can attest to the fact that, with Hela coming in Thor: Ragnarok became Marvel’s one of the most iconic films. With Hespera and Hela almost of the same category, it would be really interesting to see how DC makes it different or maybe even better than Marvel with Mirren onboard, to play this particular role.
While there many other supervillains that are female in the comic world, not many have been brought to life in movies or series, but the idea of female playing a villain is not new. We have seen Helena Bonham Carter, slaying the iconic role of Bellatrix over the years. Besides that we have also seen Charlize Theron, who essayed the role of the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Huntsman. Angelina Jolie also has played the role of Maleficent, a villain in the world of fairytales. Also, we cannot forget Margot Robbie playing Harley Quinn, though she is meant to be a supervillain, she already is a superstar and makes everything even more iconic.
Shazam!, released back in 2019 is considered amongst the successful movies that were released in a time when the known DC superhero movies weren’t doing well. Shazam! has received acclaims not only for the story but also for the actors that portrayed the characters.
Asher Angel returns as Billy, who was struck by lightning only to turn into an adult superhero. Zachary Levi comes back to play the role of Shazam. While Shazam is an all around champion, Billy Batson is still just a regular kid trying to navigate high school while learning how to use all these brand new powers.
David F. Sandberg is returning to direct the sequel from a screenplay by Henry Gayden. The movie was earlier slated to release in 2022 but the extreme delay of the movie due to the pandemic has pushed the movie for a 2023 release for now.