Shazam! Fury of the Gods Director Reveals Surprising Influence From a Classic Anime Movie

By Jamie Jirak

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is coming to theatres in March, and it was helmed by the first movie's director, David F. Sandberg. During the film's production, and even now, Sandberg has shared fun content about the DC film on social media. From sharing set photos to making some funny jokes about the upcoming movie, Sandberg is a good director to follow on social media. Recently, he took to Twitter to tease a moment in the upcoming Shazam! sequel that was inspired by the iconic 1988 anime film, Akira. 

"There's a shot in Shazam 2 inspired by this moment from Akira. This was one moment where I wanted 1000+ nits. There was a bunch of detail within the explosion still visible in HDR though so we had to really push things to get that solid white look," Sandberg wrote. You can check out the shot in the post below:

Who Stars in Shazam! Fury of the Gods? 

In addition to Zachary Levi in the titular role, the returning Shazam! stars include Asher Angel (Billy Batson), Jack Dylan Grazer (Freddy), Ian Chen (Eugene), Jovan Armand (Pedro), Faithe Herman (Darla), and Grace Fulton (Mary). The returning adult-sized Shazamily will include actors Adam Brody, D.J. Cotrona, Ross Butler, and Meagan Good. Djimon Hounsou is also back as the Wizard, a role he just reprised in Black Adam. New additions to the cast include West Side Story star Rachel Zegler as well as Helen Mirren as the villain Hespera, a daughter of Atlas, and Lucy Liu as Hespera's sister, Kalypso. 

Has David F. Sandberg Commented on DC's Recent Changes?

This week, The Hollywood Reporter reported a bunch of news about potential shakeups in DC now that James Gunn and Peter Safran have stepped into their roles as co-CEOs of DC Studios. Not only is Wonder Woman 3 no longer happening, but Jason Momoa could be done playing Aquaman, and a Black Adam sequel might not happen. While Gunn has said that not all of the rumors are true, there's still a lot of speculation happening. This week, David F. Sandberg joked that he couldn't find any news updates about DC Films on Google, and hilariously replied to fans asking if Shazam! star Zachary Levi will be recast as Clayface. He also joked that Shazam! newcomer Rachel Zegler will be playing every "key role" in the entire franchise going forward.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods will now be released exclusively in theaters on March 17, 2023.

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