Though there is still a two-year wait until Shazam! Fury of the Gods, director David F. Sandberg is already teasing a bigger scope for the sequel that shall outmatch the predecessor film released in 2019. Shazam! was one of the two films (the other one being Aquaman) from the original DCEU slate to actually go on floors. While the film wasn't a high grosser at the box office, it received massive critical praise and helped DCEU get back on track.

The film served as an origin story for the character of Billy Batson, a teenage boy, who after running into an ancient wizard, gets the ability to transform into an adult superhero who goes by the name Shazam. Zachary Levi's performance and writer Henry Gayden's take on the DC's previously known Marvel Family actually proved to be an independent success. Now that director Sandberg promises a much bigger event in the sequel, we have all the reasons to get excited.

Recently, David F. Sandberg got into a Q&A session on his Instagram stories with fans. An excited DC fan posted a question concerning his work on Shazam! Fury of the Gods and asked, "Will the scope of [FOTG] be bigger than Shazam or is it relatively self-contained?"

To this, Sandberg posted in reply, saying, "Scope is definitely bigger than the first movie"

Sandberg clearly pointed out that Shazam! Fury of the Gods isn't an independent take on the character but would eventually grow in regard to character representation and would delve deeper into Shazam's lore from the comics. He obviously didn't spoil any details about the film, but his comment seems to indicate that he views Fury of the Gods as more of a progression and continuation to the character's story rather than an individual approach like James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, which, though is a sequel, is also a soft reboot of David Ayer's 2016 take on the eponymous group of villains.

Over the years, DC has changed its approach towards DCEU and the shared continuity concept by keeping connections between films at a bare minimum so that they can exist in the same timeline while being kept at parallels from each other. The Flash (2022) will be the first film in the last few years to act as a continuation rather than a side-sequel or independent reboot, thus, carrying on DCEU as a shared cinematic universe. Since Fury of the Gods will release after The Flash, the latter could factor somehow in the Shazam! sequel in some manner. However, nothing of this sort has been confirmed yet.

Regardless of its deeper connection to DCEU, the film does promise a bigger scope as David Sandberg has promised. The film has already cast Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu as sisters as Hespera and Kalypso who'd serve as the film's primary antagonists. Also, Rachel Zegler (who'd star in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story) has also been cast as the third sister to Hespera and Kalypso. This might round up the evil trio of the sequel. Besides, we will also see the entire Shazam family return to reprise their characters, both the kids' and adult superhero versions including Jack Dylan Grazer and Adam Brody as Freddy Freeman.

The previous movie focused entirely on Billy and his struggle with understanding a superhero in an adult body. This time, when all the other members have found their new powers, we might get to see all of them together to take on the villains, thus, giving us a closer look at the rest of the team. It would be a bonus if the film induces some plot points from other DCEU films and give it a wider connection to the extended universe.

Very little is known of the film as of yet; however, the new look at Shazam is now out as tweeted by Zachary Levi, Sandberg, and Warner Bros. The fans would've had probably expected that Mark Strong would return for the sequel as his character still lives and has formed an unlikely alliance with Mister Mind (who may also not appear in the sequel). Moreover, surprisingly Dwayne Johnson would once again not appear in a Shazam movie. Dwayne Johnson will play Black Adam in the 2022 film of the same name, which would act as a spin-off to Shazam! (2019). However, his ultimate collision with Batson, who also draws power from the ancient wizard's staff, is kept for a third film, which shall round up the first phase of Shazam's storyline as a trilogy.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is still in development and there'd be four films (including The Suicide Squad) that would release as part of the DC Extended Universe before it hits theaters. There are lots of announcements to follow and probably there could be new additions to the cast (hopefully from existing DCEU characters, now that Shazam is friends with Superman). Given the 2023 release date, the trailer seems still far away for now. But, as new set photos get out there, we shall know more and more of the forthcoming sequel.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods will release on June 2, 2023, as the fourteenth installment of DC Extended Universe. Directed by David F. Sandberg and written by Henry Gayden, the film would star Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler, Helen Mirren, and Lucy Liu. The film also marks the return of the Shazam Family with cast members Faithe Herman, Meagan Good, Grace Fulton, Michelle Borth, Ian Chen, Ross Butler, Jovan Armand, and D.J. Cotrona reprising their respective roles from the first film.