Lucy Liu cast as Shazam 2 villain alongside Helen Mirren

Lucy Liu has joined the cast of Shazam 2 as villain Kalypso, Variety reports.

Kalypso is the sister of Hespera, the character Helen Mirren was announced to be playing in March. Both will be villains in the project, and neither have a clear link to characters from the pages of DC Comics. What we do know, however, is that both are daughters of the Titan, Atlas, from Greek mythology, and Atlas is one of the figures that Shazam derives his powers from.

Shazam, AKA Billy Batson, gets his abilities from a range of mythological characters – with "Shazam" an acronym that spells out his powers and their source: Solomon's wisdom, Hercules' strength, Atlas' stamina, Zeus' power, Achilles' courage, and Mercury's speed. It looks like the sequel film will be leaning more heavily into the mythological basis of Billy's powers, especially as the movie is officially titled Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

While 2019's Shazam ended with Mark Strong's Doctor Sivana meeting Mister Mind in prison, with Mirren and Liu part of the sequel, it looks like this particular plot thread won't be picked up in Shazam 2 – or if these characters do come back into play, it doesn't seem they'll be a major part of the storyline. There's also the mystery of West Side Story star Rachel Zegler's role, which is currently unknown.  

David F. Sandberg is back to helm Shazam 2, with the main cast also returning: the sequel will see Asher Angel as Billy Batson, Zachary Levi as Billy's adult alter-ego Shazam, Jack Dylan Grazer as his pal Freddy Freeman, and the rest of Billy's foster family and their superhero alter-egos will also be back. Sandberg posted a tweet acknowledging this latest casting news, which featured Liu as her Kill Bill character, apparently brandishing Levi's head. It looks like Billy is going to have a formidable foe to face in the sequel, then. 

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is set for release June 2, 2023. It's not known yet how – or if – it will tie into Black Adam, which stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and is due for release July 29, 2022. A deleted scene from the first movie, which many misremember as the post-credits scene in a strange Mandela effect, hinted that Black Adam might cross paths with the Shazam family in the future.

While we wait for Shazam 2, check out how to watch DC movies in order to get up to speed.