Originally published on Set The Tape
Shazam! hits home release this week, bringing the decades old superhero to new audiences. Thanks to the popularity and success of the film a sequel is more than likely, but with such a big catalogue of villains to choose from what could come next for the red and gold clad hero?
Mr. Mind & The Monster Society of Evil
Seen briefly during the events of Shazam!, Mr. Mind is one of Shazam’s oldest villains. A two inch tall alien worm with a level of intelligence that rivals the smartest humans on the planet, and possessing telepathic powers, he has proven to be a deadly enemy despite his physical appearance. Mr. Mind created the Monster Society of Evil, one of the first super villain teams in comics history, to help him with his schemes.
Thanks to Mr. Mind having already appeared in the first Shazam! film the odds of him reappearing as a main villain are high, and his making a deal with Doctor Sivana means that the Society may be included too. However, some of the stranger members, such as Dummy and Ramulus may not make an appearance.
Eclipso
Shazam! brought gods and theological ideas from the DC Comics to the big screen, following the introduction of Greek gods in Wonder Woman. Thanks to this, it may be possible that further Shazam! films could explore of these themes and feature the villain Eclipso. The former Wrath of God (yes, THE god) and angel of vengeance, Eclipso is one of the more powerful entities in the DC Universe.
An entity that is capable of possessing a host and imbuing them with powers powerful enough to put the entire planet in danger, Eclipso is a villain who would put Shazam to the test. Thanks to having a substantial catalogue of hosts to choose from, and a broad array of powers that could be showcased, Eclipso would be an excellent choice of villain.
Sabbac
A dark opposite to Shazam, Sabbac is actually a human named Timothy Karnes who was granted extraordinary powers and a physical transformation after shouting a magical phrase. Whereas Billy receives his powers from gods, Timothy gets his powers from the demons Satan, Aym, Belial, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, and Crateis; the initials of which spell the name Sabbac. Once shouting the phrase Karnes is transformed into a horned, red skinned demon with a blazing inverted pentagram on his chest.
Whilst an inverse of Shazam would make for an interesting villain for a future film there is a much more obvious choice for such a role in Black Adam (more on him later). The fact that the first film also featured demons could mean that DC will steer clear of repeating this for a sequel.
Lady Blaze and Lord Satanus
The two demonic children of the Wizard Shazam, Lady Blaze and Lord Satanus have fraught both each other and the forces of good numerous times in their quests to become rulers of Hell. Able to transform into humans and walk earth in order to try and trick people into selling their souls, the two of them have plagued the Shazam Family, Superman, and the Justice League on numerous occassions.
Whilst having more than one villain would be a way of making a Shazam! sequel more interesting, especially ones that are connected to the Wizard Shazam and could explore the history behind Billy’s powers, these two are less likely to appear than some of the others in this list.
Captain Nazi
Okay, this one will obviously not be used in a Shazam! film, but he’s worth mentioning for a number of reasons. First of all, Captain Nazi is one of the oldest Shazam villains, making his first appearance way back in 1941. Made during a time when comic publishers were regularly pitting their heroes against the axis powers in order to inspire allied troops and civilians, Captain Nazi was made to be a chief foe for Shazam, then Captain Marvel, during the war years.
Whilst at first you’d think that there’s no way that DC, or any company, would want to put a super powered fascist on the big screen as a main antagonist, the fact that white supremacy and fascist groups are a very real and serious issue in the real world means that it’s not totally off the table. What better way to remind people that Nazis shouldn’t be tolerated than having a super hero beat the crap out of one?
Black Adam
The most likely on this list to actually appear in a future Shazam! movie, Black Adam is the most iconic Shazam villain, and one that a lot of people were expecting to be the antagonist for the first film.
Born thousands of year ago in the Middle-East, Teth-Adam was the son of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II, and impressed the Wizard Shazam with his bravery and good deeds. The Wizard granted Teth-Adam magical powers, transforming him into the hero Mighty Adam when he shouted the word Shazam. He was a hero to the people of Egypt for many years, but was eventually corrupted by Shazam’s daugther Blaze and became a villain before being sealed away until his tomb was opened in modern times.
Over the years Black Adam has been a hero, a villain, and even walked the line between the two. He’s been a member of the Justice Society of America, and has laid waste to nations in rage. He’s one of the more complex characters in the DC Universe, and a perfect adversary for Shazam.
He was mentioned in passing in the first film, but not shown, despite Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson already being cast in the role. It has been reported that he will be receiving his own spin-off film, before going up against Shazam in a future movie.
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