“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” Second Trailer Reveals Greek Goddesses Gone Berserk

The second trailer for Shazam! Fury of the Gods is steeped in Greek mythology and the potency of some seriously charismatic new foes. Within the first few seconds, we’re introduced to Lucy Lui’s Kalypso and Helen Mirren’s Hespera, two heavyweight goddesses from the Greek pantheon who have arrived to hunt down Billy Batson (Asher Angel) and his superhero alter ego Shazam (Zachary Levi) and their super-powered friends.

“Children stole the power of the gods,” Hespera seethes, as she and Kalypso aim to retrieve those powers from Billy and his gang at all costs. The trailer has a slew of Greek mythology Easter Eggs. It opens with a shot of what appears to be a very dark version of Mount Olympus, and includes Kalypso plunging a Golden Apple into a baseball field. In case you’ve forgotten your Greek Myth 101, there are several Golden Apples seeded throughout various myths, including one that helped start the Trojan War. This Golden Apple, we’re guessing, is connected to a myth having to do with Hesperides (another name for Helen Mirren’s Hespera), who guarded a golden apple tree, with help from the dragon Ladon, that was a wedding gift for the goddess Hera. One of Hercules’ twelve labors was to steal an apple from that very tree.

Granted, Shazam! Fury of the Gods won’t be taking us back to our mythology classes, but, the presence of Hespera and Kalypso and the horrors they can conjure definitely ratchet up the mayhem from the original Shazam! The second trailer is more somber in tone than previous peeks at Shazam! Fury of the Gods or the previous film, with Shazam offering to give up his powers at one point to save the world.

Yet what made David F. Sandberg’s original film so buoyant, and what will no doubt be lost here, is the sense of fun, even goofiness, that Zachary Levi brings to the title role. Shazam! Fury of the Gods will be bigger and meaner than the original, but it’s still a story about a teenage foster kid and his friends who were granted superpowers and find themselves suddenly tasked with saving the world. Teens are gonna teen, even in such a dire situation.

Check out the new trailer below. Shazam! Fury of the Gods hits theaters on March 17.

Here’s the official synopsis for Shazam! Fury of the Gods:

“Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” which continues the story of teenage Billy Batson who, upon reciting the magic word “SHAZAM!,” is transformed into his adult Super Hero alter ego, Shazam.

Bestowed with the powers of the gods, Billy Batson and his fellow foster kids are still learning how to juggle teenage life with having adult Super Hero alter-egos. But when the Daughters of Atlas, a vengeful trio of ancient gods, arrive on Earth in search of the magic stolen from them long ago, Billy—aka Shazam—and his family are thrust into a battle for their superpowers, their lives, and the fate of their world.

“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” stars returning cast members Zachary Levi (“Thor: Ragnarok”) as Shazam; Asher Angel (“Andi Mack”) as Billy Batson; Jack Dylan Grazer (“It Chapter Two”) as Freddy Freeman; Adam Brody (“Promising Young Woman”) as Super Hero Freddy; Ross Butler (“Raya and the Last Dragon”) as Super Hero Eugene; Meagan Good (“Day Shift”) as Super Hero Darla; D.J. Cotrona (“G.I. Joe: Retaliation”) as Super Hero Pedro; Grace Caroline Currey (“Annabelle: Creation”) as Mary Bromfield / Super Hero Mary; Faithe Herman (“This Is Us”) as Darla Dudley; Ian Chen (“A Dog’s Journey”) as Eugene Choi; Jovan Armand (“Second Chances”) as Pedro Pena; Marta Milans (“White Lines”) as Rosa Vasquez; Cooper Andrews (“The Walking Dead”) as Victor Vasquez; with Djimon Hounsou (“A Quiet Place Part II”) as Wizard.

Joining the cast are Rachel Zegler (“West Side Story”), with Lucy Liu (“Kung Fu Panda” franchise) and Helen Mirren (“F9: The Fast Saga”).

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Featured image: Caption: LUCY LIU as Kalypso in New Line Cinema’s action adventure “SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures