In his interview with The Playlist, “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” director David F. Sandberg went on to explain that the decision to tell a story with original villains in the second “Shazam” movie came about once he began interrogating the source of its titular character’s powers, which have always been linked to Greek mythology — the name Shazam itself, notably, is an acronym for Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury.
“The question becomes what we can have him do in our world, and that leads to the concept of the powers gained from these mythological figures turning out to be stolen, and the original owners want them back,” Sandberg said. “You understand the anger of these goddesses because they were wronged. Shazam didn’t do it, and we may not agree with their methods, but we see where they’re coming from. Those are the best villains, the ones who kind of have a point where they’re not just evil to be evil.”
So, while the Greek gods in “Shazam 2” may not originate in any DC comic book storyline, their introduction is nevertheless a natural function of its hero’s intrinsic link to Greek mythology, and true to his comic book origins in its own way.
