Over the weekend, Warner Bros. brought a big showing for DC Films to Comic Con Experience in Brazil, which included the first trailer for Wonder Woman 1984, a brief preview of The Suicide Squad from the set with director James Gunn and news that Matt Reeves will bring The Batman to the event next year. While there were reports that the studio confirmed the Shazam sequel as well, that isn’t the case.
Movieweb reported, “It was widely reported that DC Comics and Warner Bros. announced Shazam 2 is officially happening over the weekend at CCXP. We need to pump the brakes just a bit on that, though.”
According to new reporting, Warner Bros. confirmed that they didn’t officially announce Shazam 2 at CCXP. That said, it doesn’t mean the sequel isn’t in development. It’s just that Warner Bros. is likely waiting to announce it at a later date once they’ve firmly decided that they’re moving forward with it, and once they’ve hammered down a bit more clearly when it’s going to happen.
Originally created in 1941 for Fawcett Comics, Captain Marvel was orphan boy Billy Batson who transformed into “the Big Red Cheese” when he said Shazam, the name of the ancient wizard who gave him his powers, which coincidentally was an acronym formed by the initials of Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury.
One question fans are asking is, who will be the villain in Shazam 2? Generic career crooks, like ordinary bank robbers? Will Dwayne Johnson (Jungle Cruise, Jumanji 2, etc.) appear as Black Adam? Will Mark Strong reprise his role as Dr. Sivana? Or will Mr. Mind who had a bit part at the end of the movie return for a larger role in the second movie?
Zachary Levi (the voice of Flynn Ryder in Tangled, Chuck Bartowski in Chuck) hinted that Shazam 2 could start filming in summer of 2020. Screenwriter Henry Gayden(writer of Shazam, Zombie Roadkill, Last Human, and Ghost Army) is already working on the script for the sequel. David F. Sandberg will be directing, and Peter Safran is producing – but so far, without a completed script (or a title), it’s impossible to say whether all this is actually going to go forward. It’s likely that it will, but we’re way too early in the process to be able to confirm it.
We do know that the Black Adam movie is actually further along in the development process, and that Dwayne Johnson has been signed for the title role in that, and will be co-producing as well. They’re looking at December 21, 2021 as the release date. Given that there’s going to be a Black Adam movie and that that’s confirmed, a new Shazam film could dovetail with it – or be rendered moot – or not arrive until sometime in 2022 or 2023.
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Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress #30”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions, Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.
