Shazam! Fury of the Gods director David F Sandberg has opened up about the MCU issue he wanted to avoid in his long-awaited sequel.
Ahead of the movie's release this weekend, Sandberg discussed the MCU and how the ever-growing number of projects are becoming a little difficult to keep up with.
"I'm sort of a little bummed out how with the serialisation of movies, how it turned into TV shows where it's like, I guess that's more of a Marvel thing at the moment," he said in an exclusive interview with Digital Spy.
Related: Shazam 2 teaser spoils a major DC cameo
"Like, I love Marvel and everything, but it's kind of like, you're watching things like 'who’s that guy again', 'which movie was that' and 'what happened there?'"
The filmmaker explained how he prefers it when "movies are are standalone, but they can still connect together", which he hoped to accomplish with Shazam 2.
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Related: Shazam 2's Ross Butler "geeked out" over Fury of the Gods co-stars
He's not the only one who struggles to keep up with superhero projects, either. Helen Mirren, who takes on the role of Hespera in Sandberg's sequel, previously admitted to finding the plot of the new movie a little "complicated".
"Don’t ask me about the plot, it’s too complicated! We are angry goddesses wearing unbelievably heavy costumes," she joked during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show last month.
"It was very hot and uncomfortable, and in fact Lucy [Liu] said at the end of the first day’s shooting, 'They are trying to kill us’, in all seriousness."
Further discussing her costume with Digital Spy, Mirren said: "I had the heaviest costume, it was something like 40, 50 pounds of stuff on me."
Shazam! Fury of the Gods has a cinema release date of March 17, 2023.
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Social Executive, Entertainment Portfolio After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022, where she wrote across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. Following her internship, Iona continued contributing to the site as a freelance reporter, becoming social executive for the Hearst UK entertainment portfolio in summer 2025. Iona now leads the DS social channels, covering red carpets with stars such as Paul Mescal, Austin Butler, and more.
Gabriella Geisinger is a freelance film critic and journalist, with a focus on J-drama & film, and the Japanese production industry. She was previously Locations Editor at Screen International and Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy. Her writing can also befound in Curzon, 1883, and more. A born and raised New Yorker, she loves coffee and the colour black, obviously.
