Helen Mirren has landed her next role as the villain in the sequel to 2019’s Shazam!
The Oscar-winning actress, 75, is set to play Hespera, the daughter of Atlas, in Shazam! Fury Of The Gods opposite Zachary Levi’s adult version of the teen Billy Batson, the superpowered hero Shazam.
Mirren is the latest cast member to join the film alongside Rachel Zegler, who is set to star in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake. The news of Mirren joining the cast was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
The 2019 film earned $365 million worldwide. The movie followed Billy (Asher Angel), a newly fostered teenager who seeks his mother only to find unexpected superpowers when he recites the magic word “Shazam!”
The sequel is being produced by New Line, which is also developing Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam, Shazam’s main villain.
In May 2020, Levi said the sequel was “still on track” despite the COVID-19 lockdown that affected most Hollywood films.
“Right now, they’re writing an amazing script,” Levi told Entertainment Tonight at the time. “I don’t have any real details on that. I’ve some generals and they all sound amazing.”
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“The only other thing I know is they want to make it as soon as possible because those kids are growing up like weeds, so if we don’t do that in like the next two days, they’re gonna be full-grown adults,” Levi added.
Mirren is set to star in this summer’s F9 in which she played the mother to Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw. She will also appear in the Prime Video series Solos.
