With a release date of March 17, 2023, DC superhero fans all around the world are anticipating the sequel to the 2019 critically acclaimed movie “Shazam!” starring Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, and Jack Dylan Grazer. With the first movie receiving a solid 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, the popular movie review website, projections of the sequel’s success have been made, and the suspense is real.

“Shazam!” follows the storyline of teenager Billy Batson, portrayed by Levi and Angel, who is a runaway foster kid in Fawcett City, Philadelphia and is placed in a group home, forced to connect with the foster kids around him. He forges friendships with each one of them, especially Freddy Freeman, superhero admirer portrayed by Grazer. At school, bullies chase Billy and Freddy to a subway station, where Billy stands up for Freddy. Transported to the “Rock of Eternity” Billy gains the ability to turn into an adult superhero by saying the word “Shazam.” His foster siblings help him against the danger of the Seven Deadly Sins and gain their own superpowers helping them eventually defeat Sivana, a villain being controlled by the Sins and bond as a family.

In the second film, Billy teams up with his foster siblings again to control the daughters of Atlas. These gods are angry that earthly children have been given the power of the gods and are seeking to use their superweapon to wreak havoc on Earth. Billy faces the responsibility that comes with his powers and the choice of whether to face the dangers that come with the job or to give up.

Director David F. Sandberg expanded on this internal conflict Billy faces, comparing it to the normal problems every teenager faces.

“It’s sort of an extension of the first movie,” Sandberg tells EW. “He finally found a family in that movie. But now, we see him struggling a bit now that they’re growing up. He’s holding on very tightly to his family because he doesn’t want everyone to just scatter and go do their own thing. He just found his family, and he wants to have them all together.”

At the San Diego Comic Con 2022, Grazer commented on the differences between the first and second movie, drawing on the feel of the movie rather than the look of it. BuzzFeed relayed Grazer saying, “I don’t want to say it’s ‘better than the first one,’ but I think it’s going to be more all-inclusive. I think it’ll be more emotional, definitely. The emotions behind why we’re doing what we’re doing is more explored.”

Levi, is also known for the hit TV series Chuck, where he plays a computer nerd helping the government fight crime. Levi commented at Comic Con on how refreshing the role of someone with the heart of a kid is to play and how excited he is for the movie to be released.

“I got a jackpot of a character,” Levi said. “It’s not just a normal superhero. He’s a kid. He gets to have all that fun with it. I love it.”