New Shazam! Fury of the Gods trailer released

Following 2022’s Black Adam, the Shazam universe is expanding once again. Billy Batson (Asher Angel) and his family return in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Directed by David F. Sandberg (Annabelle: Creation, Shazam!), the sequel features its red-clad superhero (Zachary Levi) and his siblings going up against their most formidable enemies yet: the Daughters of Atlas, a team comprised of powerful beings Kalypso (Lucy Liu), Anthea (Rachel Zegler) and their leader, Hespera (Helen Mirren).

The Daughters confront Billy and his companions due to them considering the children stole the powers of the gods. Fury of the Gods will be released in March, and Warner Bros. has been ramping up marketing for it. After the release of a new official poster featuring the Shazam family and the Daughters of Atlas, the studio has unveiled the movie’s second trailer.

Watch the new Shazam! Fury of the Gods trailer

The trailer once again shows how central the theme of family is to the Shazam franchise. The concept was pivotal to the first film, but with Billy now having a firm, established relationship with his siblings and parents, Fury of the Gods seems to be delving even deeper into the idea of family, and how big of an impact it has on the Shazam team.

Fury of the Gods is introducing original villains

Most superhero movies feature established villains from the comics. Fury of the Gods, however, is introducing brand-new, original evil-doers. Though Atlas is a long-standing character in the DC Universe, the Daughters of Atlas are new additions to the company’s mythology. The Shazam! sequel isn’t the first superhero film to create its own antagonists—2004’s The Punisher introduced John Travolta’s Howard Saint as Frank Castle’s foil, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law introduced Todd Phelps (Jon Bass) as a baddie. With that said, the instances of movies and TV series creating their own main villains are, admittedly, sporadic.

The Daughters of Atlas being original creations could theoretically prompt some hesitation from fans of the Shazam mythology, but it shouldn’t. On the contrary. The sequel has the potential to deliver formidable new characters for DC. After all, it’s worth noting that many popular comic book players have been introduced in films and television prior to their induction into the realm of comics, some of which have come from DC. Some of the biggest examples are Harley Quinn (debuted in Batman: The Animated Series), Terry McGinnis (introduced in Batman Beyond) and the Wonder Twins (introduced in The All-New Super Friends Hour cartoon).

Though comics are typically the ones to feed movie and television adaptations with characters and mythology, there can, at times, be a symbiotic relationship between the two mediums in terms of content contributions. Comic books are invaluable blueprints for screen adaptations, but said works can also offer exciting content for their source material. That is particularly true now, given the rate at which superhero media continues to evolve and expand, thus giving comic adaptations more frequent opportunities to impact their source material as much as the printed stories impact them.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is scheduled to hit theaters on March 17, 2023.

What did you think about the new Shazam 2 trailer? How do you feel about the film introducing new villains into the DC Universe? Let us know in the comments!