DCU Spotlight Review: Shazam: Fury of the Gods (2023)

Overview: Billy, Freddy, and the Shazamily are back again as they take on the daughters of Atlas in this sequel, Shazam: Fury of the Gods. 

Synopsis (spoilers ahead): Shazam: Fury of the Gods opens as the daughters of Atlas, Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Kalypso (Lucy Lui), break into a museum to steal the broken staff of the Wizard (Djimon Hounsou). They have the Wizard imprisoned and then use their magic to have him repair the staff so they will be able to use its powers.

Back in Philadelphia, Billy Batson struggles to keep his family together and fears they are growing apart. They put that on hold as the Benjamin Franklin Bridge is collapsing. Billy, Freddy, Mary, Darla, Eugene, and Pedro say the word and attempt to avert disaster. They save all the people but are unable to save the bridge from collapsing. The news calls them out for their failure. Later, while dreaming about being on a date with Wonder Woman (headless cameo), the Wizard visits Billy in the dream to warn him about the daughters of Atlas. Billy and the rest of the family do some research on the daughters and discover that they were freed from their prison when Billy broke the staff during the events of the previous movie.

In school, Freddy is still being bullied but gets the attention of a girl named Anne (Rachel Zegler). In an attempt to impress her, Freddy turns into his superhero self. During their research, Billy and Mary discover that Atlas has a third daughter named Athena. Billy does the math and realizes that Anne and Athena are one and the same. Hespera and Kalypso use the staff to steal Freddy’s powers, and the Shazamily is too late to stop the sisters from kidnapping Freddy and putting a dome over the city from which no one can escape. Freddy is imprisoned with the Wizard.

Billy and the gang enter the Rock of Eternity, where Pedro introduces them to an all-knowing magical pen named Steve which they use to send a letter to the sisters to try to get Freddy back. The Shazamily take on Hespera and Kalypso, and Pedro loses his powers in the fight, but they manage to capture Hespera and bring her back to the Rock of Eternity. But it seems that Hespera was channeling her inner Heath Ledger Joker and planned to be caught so she could steal the Golden Apple, the seed of the Tree of Life. Feeling regretful for what happened to Freddy, Athena helps Freddy and the Wizard try to escape but sees that the sisters have the Golden Apple and attempts to take it back. The sisters are arguing over what to do with the apple. Hespera and Athena want to use it to bring their realm back, but Kalypso wants to go to Earth and take it over. Billy and the rest of the team show up to save Freddy and the Wizard and are chased out of the realm by a giant dragon.

The team ends up back home, where they reveal their identities to their foster parents and escape before the dragon destroys their home. In a subsequent fight, all of the Shazamily but Billy lose their powers. Kalypso as she takes out Hespera, plants the apple in the Philadelphia Phillies stadium, and releases magical monsters on the city. 

Billy asks the Wizard to take away his powers, but the Wizard says he can’t because he is the true hero, and after an emotional talk with his foster mom, Billy flies off to try to stop Kalypso while the rest of the family attempt to stop the monsters even though they do not have powers. While Billy revives Hespera and asks her for help. Darla, Mary, and the Wizard call on for Unicorns to help stop the monsters. Armed with the unicorns and the power of Skittles (yes, you read that right), they are able to fend off the monsters.

Meanwhile, Billy has Hespera shrink the dome to cover the stadium as Billy overloads the staff with the magical electricity inside the dome and sacrifices himself to stop Kalypso and destroy the Tree of Life. Athena and the family bury Billy in the God’s Realm and mourn his life. Suddenly, Wonder Woman (not a headless cameo. Actually Gal Gadot!) appears and repairs the staff and brings Billy back to life. The family repairs the house, and everyone gets their powers back as Athena and the Wizard decide to live on Earth.

In the mid-credits scene, Harcourt and Economos are sent by Amanda Waller to recruit Shazam to join the Justice Society. In the post-credits scene, Dr. Sivana is approached by the caterpillar, Mr. Mind, who lets him know that he has a plan before leaving.

Analysis: Shazam: Fury of the Gods was awesome. I thought it perfectly blended action, humor, heart, and levity. It had everything you want in a comic book movie. It’s only natural to compare this movie to Black Adam, and this film had all that, and that is what Black Adam lacked. Black Adam was a pure action film, while this film was a much better story.

It’s a sequel that means more of everything from the first film. More Shazamily, more Freddy, more Wizard, more of everything, and I think director David Sandberg delivered. Whatever the future holds for DC Studios, I hope Sandberg is involved.

Zachary Levi continues to have still the boyish attitude that works well for Shazam. He and Jack Dylan Grazer still have good chemistry as grown Billy and kid Freddy. I don’t know what the future holds for the Shazam franchise as a whole, mainly because so much of the cast is kids. Asher Angel plays the depowered Billy, and he was barely in the film. They did continue to make a point that Billy and Freddy were turning eighteen.

I liked both Shazam films, and I really enjoyed this one. I know the box office is not currently delivering for Shazam: Fury of the Gods, but it is not the film’s fault. They might be feeling some effects from Black Adam and being in a weird no man’s land before The Flash resets everything and DC Studios moves into Chapter One of their plan.

Editor’s Note: We hope you enjoyed this review of Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023). The sequel is in theaters now, and you can buy your tickets now.