Warner Bros. kicked off Saturday with a bang at Comic-Con, with what’s sure to be one of the most exciting panels of the whole weekend.
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” was the first cast to appear during the panel, with Zachary Levi hitting the stage first.
In the films, Asher Angel’s Billy Batson transforms into titular superhero — and Levi, by default — after shouting “Shazam!”, a power shared with his foster siblings Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), Darla Dudley (Faithe Herman), Eugene Choi (Ian Chen) Mary Bromfield (Grace Fulton) and Pedro Peña (Jovan Armand). Along with Levi and Fulton — who plays both the normal and suped-up version of Mary — the post-transformation cast includes Adam Brody, Meagan Good, Ross Butler and D.J. Cotrona.
The cast also includes Rachel Zegler as Antheia, Lucy Liu as the villainous DC character Kalypso, and Helen Mirren Hespera — who are the Daughters of Atlas.
Per Levi, when the film starts, “we’ve all been flying around, doing various missions … we’re all still learning how to do that … and figuring out our own identity.” He also teased some “family tiffs,” saying that’s what grounds the movies a bit in reality.
He then showed the first trailer (above), which began with Billy in a therapy session, wondering if he deserved all his powers and referring to The Flash, Aquaman and Batman. “And I’m just me,” he says, as footage showed him fumbling with his powers. There was a ton of footage of the entire cast working together to take on Hespera and Kalypso, who are ticked that “children stole all the powers of the gods.” Alongside some “Fast & Furious” jokes, there’s also a damn dragon, unicorns and Zegler using some powers herself.
Zegler and Mirren appeared during the panel via video, as Helen joked she couldn’t attend because she had been banned from Comic-Con. She also told Zachary, “I had a marvelous time kicking the s— out of you,” while praising her on-screen sisters, adding, “Yay, p—- power!”
During the fan Q&As, Levi couldn’t confirm nor deny any future fights against Superman … hopefully, we get more on that front later int he panel.
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” is scheduled to hit theaters on June 2, 2023.
Up next, was “Black Adam” — with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson showing up in his costume to greet Hall H. The film costars Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate, Marwan Kenzari as Ishmael, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, Bodhi Sabongui as Amon and Sarah Shahi as Adrianna Tomaz.
After a quick outfit changed, Johnson joined Hodge, Centineo and Swindell on stage and exclaimed his excitement for what is one of his passion projects. In a funny reveal, Hodge said he didn’t believe he landed the role until Johnson called himself — and even then, he first didn’t believe it was actually The Rock and then thought he was simply being told he didn’t get the part.
“Nearly 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the ancient gods — and imprisoned just as quickly — Black Adam (Johnson) is freed from his earthly tomb, ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world,” teases the official synopsis from WB.
A young fan also asked whether Kevin Hart was jealous when The Rock landed the superhero role. “The truth is, yes, Kevin Hart gets jealous at everything,” he responded, before joking, “But also, I’m pretty good with height and you’re already taller than Kevin Hart.”
He was also asked who would win in a fight between Black Adam and Superman — with Johnson saying, “”pound for pound, they’re pretty close. It all depends on who’s playing Superman. I’ll say that.”
The movie hits theaters October 21, 2022.
While WB has completed filming on both “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” and “The Flash” on its slate, the studio wasn’t expected to focus on them during the panel. Both “Batgirl” and “Blue Beetle” have also been filmed and could debut some footage. Fans have also been hopeful for some kind of official announcement for a second “Joker” movie, especially after reports suggesting Lady Gaga was circling a role in the film.
We’ll keep updating this post throughout the panel.
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