Why Shazam 2 Is Using Wonder Woman Villains
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is giving Billy Batson several mythology-based villains who come from Wonder Woman’s corner of the DC Universe. Here’s why.
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Despite Shazam!’s set up of a villainous team-up between Doctor Sivana and Mister Mind, Shazam! Fury of the Gods is introducing antagonists that belong to the pantheon of Old Gods, a corner of the DC Universe that’s usually associated with Wonder Woman. Shazam’s name and powers in DC’s mythology come from the ancient heroes Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury. However, most of his famous villains have little to do with well-known figures of the past. Instead, Shazam’s gallery of foes is composed of the likes of the evil scientist Thaddeus Sivana, the extraterrestrial worm Mister Mind, and the demon Lady Blaze.
On the other hand, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman is the daughter of the Amazon Hippolyta and the king of DC’s Old Gods, Zeus. She trained her whole life with her aunt Antiope, the general of the Amazons, and got her hands on the Lasso of Hestia before leaving the mythical land of Themyscira to defeat Ares, the god of war. In Wonder Woman 1984, Diana Prince fought to reverse the effects of the Dreamstone, a magical object made by the god of trickery, Dolus, that granted wishes to anybody who touched it. She also donned the armor of Lynda Carter’s mysterious Amazonian hero, Asteria. In short, Wonder Woman hasn’t stopped participating in mythical adventures even after she left Themyscira behind.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods will feature Helen Mirren’s Hespera and Lucy Liu’s Calypso as the main villains. Alongside these two figures from Wonder Woman’s catalogue of mythical villains, there will also be creatures such as dragons, harpies, and cyclops as secondary antagonists for the Shazam Family. Given their mythological nature, these characters seem like a perfect fit for a Wonder Woman sequel, but it actually makes more sense to depict them as Billy Batson’s villains due to the fantastical and lighthearted tone of the Shazam! movies. Although Wonder Woman has been the figurehead of ancient mythology in the DCEU, her appearances have taken a more serious approach to stories set in the modern world — Wonder Woman tackled the bleakness of war and Wonder Woman 1984, as flashy as it was, explored humanity’s greed with a straight face.
While Shazam! delivered quite an emotional gut-punch with the reveal that Billy Batson’s mother never regretted her decision to abandon him, David F. Sandberg’s first live-action dive into Zachary Levi’s vibrant character was unapologetically extravagant from start to finish. Dragons, harpies, and cyclopes feel at home in Shazam! Fury of the Gods as much as the terrifying Seven Deadly Sins did in the first movie. Furthermore, it wouldn’t feel appropriate to bring back Doctor Sivana along with Mister Mind immediately after the first film’s post-credits tease, and with Black Adam getting his first solo movie prior to him butting heads with Billy Batson in a future crossover, it’s clear that Shazam! Fury of the Gods made the right decision by doubling down on DC’s ancient mythology.
The fact that both Calypso and Hespera are original DC villains makes their introduction in Shazam! Fury of the Gods all the more exciting. The sequel draws from Wonder Woman’s mythos to streamline Shazam’s DCEU journey but, at the same time, doesn’t leave room for failed expectations the way it could if it borrowed more prominent villains such as Ares or Circe. Additionally, the sequel’s exploration of DC’s ancient myths also leaves the door open for crossovers between the Champions, the Amazons, and the Atlanteans.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/shazam-2-wonder-woman-villains-gods-ancient-why/