What does the title of the Shazam! sequel, Shazam 2!: The Fury of the Gods mean for the movie’s story? Officially confirmed to be in development in 2019 (not long after the first movie’s release), Shazam 2! will bring back Zachary Levi’s superpowered child-turned-adult hero for another adventure. It was announced in August 2020 that the movie will be titled Fury of the Gods, but what that actually means hasn’t been discussed.
In Shazam!, the titular character battled his archenemy from DC Comics, Dr. Sivana. Played by Mark Strong, Dr. Sivana was an evil scientist embittered by the wizard Shazam’s decision not to give him superpowers. As a result, he launched an attack on the wizard and became enemies with his chosen champion, Billy Batson (Asher Angel). After becoming Shazam, the hero went up against Dr. Sivana and created the Marvel Family to defeat him and the Seven Deadly Sins. By the end of the movie, Dr. Sivana and his minions were defeated, leaving room for a new nemesis to challenge Shazam in the sequel.
What the movie’s story will entail is being kept under wraps by DC, but the title has added to the speculation over what the primary threat will be. No one at DC has given any hints about the identity of the “Gods” in the title. The most popular theory about Shazam 2!’s plot is that the villain will be Mister Mind from the first movie’s post-credits tease, but the title could mean that one or more divine characters will actually be taking center stage over Mister Mind. Shazam, who gets his powers from mythological and god-like figures, doesn’t usually fight gods, though there are plenty of them in the comic books. Most of them are more closely associated with Wonder Woman’s corner of the DC Universe than they are with Shazam’s.
There are gods in the DCEU. Shazam gets his powers from some of them, and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) had to battle the God of War in her first movie. It could be that the gods of the DCEU will be angry at Shazam in the sequel and set their sights on him. It's been said that the gods died long ago, but circumstances in Shazam 2! could allow them to return in the flesh. Since Shazam represents the gods in a certain way, expectations for him could be set rather high. Shazam did make a controversial decision when he broke the staff and allowed his siblings in his foster family to become superheroes like him.
Also, there’s the matter of Shazam’s name and his abilities. It could be that the movie’s title means that it will explore more deeply the origin of his name and the gods whose powers he possesses. Another theory is that “Gods” refer to the Marvel Family itself, as each member could be the equivalent of a god. Alternatively, it’s possible that Mister Mind and his team of villains (which may be the Monster Society of Evil) will seek to become gods. Clearly, there's plenty of directions Shazam 2!: Fury of the Gods could take, given its title, but it seems like however big the rest of the story gets, the heart will still be Billy Batson and his foster siblings.
