With superhero sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods swooping into cinemas this week, the film’s director David F. Sandberg and star Zachary Levi have been talking about the potential for Shazam 3.
The Shazam movies have a couple of problems. The first is star Asher Angel’s age, as the actor is not a kid anymore. Indeed a major plot point in Shazam 2 is him reaching 18, and therefore ageing out of the foster care system. A boy turning into a man is the central conceit of the Shazam story. A man turning into a man somewhat undermines that narrative device.
Second is the regime change at Warner Bros. Peter Safran and James Gunn were recently charged with the task of overseeing DC content for the studio. In February they announced their first slate of projects, and Shazam was nowhere to be seen on the list, suggesting this iteration of the character might be done.
With all this in mind, both the film’s director and star have been discussing the potential future of the character.
Will there be a Shazam 3?
Regarding a third film, David F. Sandberg told Uproxx: I don’t know what the exact plans are. I mean, for me, I take it just one movie at a time. When we did the first one, I didn’t expect to do a second one, but that still happened. So we’ll see.
“For right now, I’m just like I just want to make a little horror movie or something now. I just did two Shazams in a row. But, I mean, if they want to do more, hey, I’m open to it. Let’s talk. But we’ll see.”
As for that the future of the character could involve, Sandberg says: “There’s certainly much more you can do. I mean with the Shazam and the family. And there’s a lot of great villains from the Shazam universe as well.
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“I’d love to see more with Mr. Mind, not just because I do the voice for him. But I mean, he’s just such a unique character because it’s silly in one way because he’s just a little worm. But he is really intelligent and dangerous and he has other forms as well. He can Hyperfly form and things like that in the comics.”
Zachary Levi keen to play Shazam in other superhero movies
When asked if Shazam will return, Zachary Levi told Deadline: “It all comes down to what the people want. We made a great movie, I’m really proud of this movie, I hope everyone goes sees it, I hope they tell all their friends and family. That’s all I can do: I can show up and be the best Shazam that I can be.
“I do know that Peter [Safran], who I’ve know for years, and James [Gunn] who I’ve even known longer, are really excellent leaders. And I trust where they’re going to take all this stuff.”
As for whether he’d appear as the character in another superhero’s movie should his standalone stories stop, Levi said: “Trust me, wherever they say, we want you to be Shazam in this thing, I’d be like ‘Great let’s go. I’ll do that.'”
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is released on March 17, while you can check out all our coverage below…
Shazam 2 Review | Zachary Levi interview | Easter Eggs | Daughters of Atlas explained | Post-credits scene | Does Wonder Woman appear? | Superman v Shazam | Rachel Zegler’s Anthea explained | Does Black Adam appear? | Shazam x Wonder Woman | Does Shazam die? | Streaming details | Shazam 3 |