Shazam!: Fury of the Gods has just added Lucy Liu to the DC sequel. According to Variety, Liu will join Helen Mirren’s Hespera as her sister Kalypso, as the two are set to bring double trouble to Zachary Levi’s Billy Batson.Both Hespera and Kalypso have no obvious DC counterpart, but the characters are from Greek mythology, daughters of the titan Atlas. This is especially relevant because the powers of Shazam are derived from different legends, most of them coming from Ancient Greece. The hero has the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury. This connection, between the wizard Shazam and the titan Atlas, is probably behind two of Atlas daughters becoming villains on Shazam!: Fury of the Gods.A closer look at Greek Mythology also indicates Liu and Mirren might not be the last goddesses to play a part in the Shazam! sequel. The Greek myths are filled with inconsistencies and contradictions, mostly caused by how these tales were passed on orally, creating new versions over time. What all these myths have in common is the fact that Atlas was the father of a lot of different daughters. In different versions of the myth, Atlas has three, seven, or dozens of daughters.Since now we know the Hespera is not the only villain of the Shazam! sequel, we might be looking at an unknown number of villains making their debut in Shazam!: Fury of the Gods. At the end of Shazam!, the powers of the wizard Shazam were shared by Billy Batson and his foster siblings, so it makes sense that the sequel might have a battle between two super-groups.
The next Shazam! will be part of the most recent expanded universe project of Warner/DC, together with Black Adam, the movie centered on Shazam’s arch-enemy. Dwayne Johnson will play the title villain in the film that has finally started filming. Black Adam will hit theaters on July 29, 2022, possibly teasing more of what we can expect from Shazam!: Fury of the Gods.
Shazam!: Fury of the Gods is set to release on June 2, 2023.
