Shazam 2 Actor Teases Filming Starting Soon With Throwback Photo

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Shazam 2 Actor Teases Filming Starting Soon With Throwback Photo

Ross Butler, who portrayed the adult Eugene Choi in Shazam!, teases that filming of the sequel will begin soon by posting a throwback photo.

Shazam! 2 star Ross Butler teases that filming on the sequel will begin soon by sharing a photo from the first movie. Directed by David F. Sandberg, Shazam! proved to be a hit. The DC Comics adaptation grossed $366 million at the worldwide box office against a budget of roughly $100 million. The film was, likewise, warmly-received by critics who appreciated the ways in which Shazam! distinguished itself from other DCEU adaptations.

A sequel to Shazam! quickly received a greenlight, with Henry Gayden returning to write the script and Sandberg stepping back into the director’s chair. Originally planned for release in April 2022, Shazam! Fury of the Gods was first delayed to November as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has since moved even further into the future and is currently planned to debut on June 2, 2023. But, at least for the cast of Shazam!, they’re getting ready to slip back into their superpowered characters.

On his Instagram account, Butler posted a throwback photo with his Shazam! co-star Ian Chen. The duo portrayed Eugene Choi in the movie, with Butler making a cameo appearance near the end as the adult version of Choi. Along with the photo, Butler’s caption teased that work on the sequel would begin soon. You can check out the post below.

Butler’s update falls in line with what other cast members have said, as Zachary Levi also noted that the plan was to begin filming Shazam! Fury of the Gods in early 2021. The sequel, arguably more so than any other superhero property, has a time-dependent quality. The first film depended strongly on its young cast, particularly on the dynamic between the characters of Billy (Asher Angel) and Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer). As their actors are getting older, it’s likely that the change will have to be reflected in the script. Admittedly, while not much is known about what shape the sequel will take, fans are understandably hoping for more of the lighthearted vibe that made Shazam! such a surprising delight to audiences when it was first released. While other entries in the DCEU and MCU can be delayed without too much of a concern for the central narrative, Shazam! Fury of the Gods arguably doesn’t have that luxury. That likely factors into why the sequel will soon begin filming, even though it won’t be released for another few years.

Another factor that plays into the importance of the Shazam! franchise is that, unlike other DCEU franchises, it was met with generally strong acclaim. Being a smaller film with a different tone and fairly sentimental message has worked to its favor because it avoided the contentious debates surrounding other adaptations such as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Given that the sequel heads into the filming process soon, hopefully fans will begin to receive more substantial hints about what the movie might look like when it is finally released. As it stands, there are already plenty of questions about how Shazam! Fury of the Gods factors into the new multiverse.