Director: David F. Sandberg
Writers: Henry Gayden, Chris Morgan
Cast: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler, Adam Brody, Ross Butler, Meagan Good, Lucy Liu, Djimon Hounsou, Helen Mirren
At one point in Shazam: Fury of the Gods, the city of Philadelphia is sealed within a giant magical dome, a nifty visual that encapsulates how self-contained this franchise is. There’s no danger of the sprawling tentacles of the multiverse here. Following the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ philosophy, this sequel to 2019 film Shazam reaches for the scale and sweep of a Gods and Monsters epic, but still roots it in the intimacy of a family drama.
Years of childhood trauma have left young Billy Batson (Asher Angel) dealing with Imposter Syndrome, and if he holds onto his new family a little too tight, it’s only because he’s afraid they might leave him. Meanwhile, fellow foster child Freddy Freeman (sarcastic standout Jack Dylan Grazer) is so enamoured by his newfound powers only because the real world conspires to remind him how weak and vulnerable he really is. The two boys and their family must face off against the daughters of Atlas (Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and a third actress whose identity counts as a spoiler), out for revenge against the people who now possess their parents’ stolen powers.