Helen Mirren Says Shazam 2 Is Too Complicated To Understand
Helen Mirren plays the villain in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, but she doesn't know the plot because it is "too complicated."
While doing an interview on The Graham Norton Show, Helen Mirren said that the plot of her new movie, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, is complicated and confusing. Mirren stars in the DC Studios sequel as the goddess Hespera, who is the movie’s main villain, though she’s asked that no one ask her to explain the film beyond that since she doesn’t understand the plot, as reported by Yahoo News. Additionally, the actress, who did some of her own stunt work for the feature, broke her finger during production.
Helen Mirren appeared on The Graham Norton Show to promote Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the sequel to the 2019 superhero blockbuster starring Zachary Levi. While on the show, she warned Norton not to ask her about the plot of her new movie because it was “too complicated.” The Shazam! sequel will be the British actress’s superhero film debut, following her escapades in other successful franchises like Fast & Furious.
During the show, Helen Mirren explained that she plays the villain in Shazam! 2, along with Lucy Liu, but she is unsure of the plot of the film beyond that. The pair of Screen Actors Guild Award-winning actresses play the irate goddesses Hespera and Kalypso. For their roles, Mirren said that they had to wear extremely heavy costumes that had the actresses joking in all seriousness that Shazam!’s production team was trying to kill them.
During her interview, Helen Mirren also talked about why she decided to do the Shazam! sequel in the first place. Despite not being a fan of superheroes in general, Mirren saw the first Shazam! and found the movie to be charming, so when she was asked to appear in the second film, she happily agreed.
Part of her agreement to be in the film was that the actress would be allowed to do her own stunts. In the past, Mirren has talked about her desire to get involved with more stuntwork and how that was a main instigator for her being cast in the Fast & Furious franchise. Though she wasn’t allowed to do her own stuntwork in the first Fast & Furious movie that she appeared in, by her third appearance in F9, she was allowed to drive fast cars down closed streets.
Apparently, Helen Mirren was allowed to do some of her own stuntwork for Shazam! 2, and one particular action scene left the actress with a broken finger. Though the Oscar-winning actress didn’t elaborate on which scene caused the injury, she claims that she was “incredibly brave” during the incident, as she didn’t want to appear incapable of doing her own stunts and wanted to be seen as a real stuntwoman.
Helen Mirren will appear with Lucy Liu and Zachary Levi in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, debuting March 17. The sequel continues to the story of Billy Batson (Asher Angel), who has the unusual superpower of being able to turn into an adult superhero after he says the word “Shazam.” While the complete plot of Shazam! Fury of the Gods is not fully known, we know that the story revolves around Billy and his foster siblings stopping the daughters of Atlas (Mirren and Liu) from using a weapon that can destroy the world.
