Helen Mirren Joins “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” as the Villain

Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren. Photo by Chelsea Lauren/Variety/REX/Shutterstock (9309704at)

Dame Helen Mirren decided to give superhero movies a try and will join the upcoming Shazam sequel Fury of the Gods. According to Deadline, the Academy Award-winning actress will portray villain Hespera in the movie.

The character of Hespera is not present in the comics, but the synopsis for the movie describes her as the daughter of Atlas. In the DC universe, Atlas is a Titan who manages to escape the imprisonment of the Olympians and later gets attacked by Shazam. His first appearance is in Justice League: The Darkseid War: Shazam! #1.

Shazam 2 will be the first superhero movie appearance for Mirren. She also has several other projects lined up in the future, including the ninth installment in The Fast and The Furious film series and war drama White Bird: A Wonder Story.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods was originally scheduled for release in 2022, but the date was pushed to the summer of 2023 due to a coronavirus pandemic. The movie will mark the return of David F. Sandberg as director, Zachary Levi as Shazam, and Asher Angel as Billy Batson, the boy who has the ability to summon Shazam. Popular YouTube Rachel Zegler previously joined the project in “a mysterious key role.”

The first Shazam movie came out in 2019 and was met with positive reviews from the critics. It also did well on the box office, earning $366 million compared to the $100 million budget.