Warner Bros. really hopes you dug what you saw with last year’s Shazam, because they’re doubling down in a big way.
Deadline reports the recently-announced Shazam sequel will hit theaters on April 1st 2022. That’s almost exactly three years after the first movie, which starred Zachary Levi and made $364M at the box office. David F. Sandberg is expected to return to direct, with Henry Gayden rehired months ago to work on the sequel’s script. Other than Levi, it’s unclear which members of the cast will also suit up, but with so many members of the Marvel family introduced we can expect some or all of them to have a role to play. Also, the first film teased the return of Mark Strong as Dr Sivana, joined by the talking alien worm, Mister Mind.
A lot is being put on the shoulders of this franchise, because Shazam 2 arrives less than four months after its spinoff, Black Adam, hits theaters on December 22nd 2021. That film, which stars Dwayne Johnson as Shazam’s less-scrupulous rival Teth-Adam aka Black Adam, will be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. The two films are expected to eventually crossover, assuming the numbers prove it to be worth it. That’s potentially a big ask, but assuming the budgets remain on the low-ish side each film maintains the fun of the first it should be no problem.
