She may have won an Oscar for starring in The Queen, but Helen Mirren is no stranger to genre films. From Red to the Fast and Furious franchise and Winchester, Mirren has been known to dabble in the weird. Next up, she’s joining a universe befitting of that versatility.
Deadline reports that Mirren has been cast in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the sequel to the hit 2019 film starring Zachary Levi. Mirren will play Hespera, a daughter of Atlas who is apparently one of the film’s villains. It’s a character that’s new to DC lore so there’s no real indication of how she’ll fit into the story. However, considering the title, you have to guess some gods are going to get extremely angry.
Levi is returning as Shazam, the alter ego of Billy Batson, who’s once again played by Asher Angel. Sinbad might be in the movie and most of the rest of the original cast is expected to return too, since the first poster featured the grown-up, superhero versions of Billy’s foster family.
David F. Sandberg will once again be directing, and the sequel, which is about to start production, is scheduled for U.S. release June 2, 2023.
[referenced id=”1146386″ url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2019/01/how-shazamwill-use-childlike-wonder-to-set-it-apart-from-the-superhero-pack/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/24/afbm2dkq4kozzlsngant.jpg” title=”How Shazam Will Use Childlike Wonder To Set It Apart From The Superhero Pack” excerpt=”If you want to know how Shazam is going to be different from the DC Entertainment films that preceded it, you need only reference two scenes: One in which the hero fights the bad guy in a toy store filled with DC superhero merch, and another where a big fight…”]