Lucy Liu will be venturing into the DC Extended Universe in Shazam! Fury of the Gods in the form of a villain. The actor has been cast to play the villainous role of Kalypso, Atlas’ daughter and the sister of Hespera, which as it was announced last month will be played by Helen Mirren. 

The characters Hespera and Kalypso don’t seem to have any presence in the DC comics and are being introduced in the film as an original creation. But, it seems they are characters derived from Greek mythology and are based on a group of nymphs called the Hesperides, the daughters of the titan Atlas. It comes as a nod towards Shazam’s obvious connection to Greek Gods, with the hero having derived most of his powers from them. 

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The name Shazam is itself an acronym to honor the six Greek gods that the hero received his powers from. He has the wisdom of Solomon, strength of Hercules, stamina of Atlas, power of Zeus, courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury. It therefore seems reasonable to have him go up against Atlas’ daughters, who are probably as powerful, if not more. David F. Sandberg, who will be returning to direct the sequel to 2019's Shazam!, seemed to have some fun with this battle between titans, with an image of Liu's O-Ren Ishii from Kill Bill holding Shazam's head in an edited image he shared on Twitter. 

The highly anticipated sequel will see Zachary Levi return to reprise his role as Shazam, along with Asher Angel, who played the hero’s younger alter ego Billy Batson in the first film. Apart from Mirren and Liu, Rachel Zegler, who will also be seen in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, has also been brought on in a currently unnamed role, which many fans believe will most likely be another one of Atlas’ daughters.

The reason for this discussion is the inconsistency in Greek mythology about the Hesperides, with different versions of the myth stating a varying number of Atlas’ daughters. But, the most common belief is that the Hesperides consisted of three women, making Zegler’s character a possible third sister. Either way, another new character will be introduced into the DC Universe. 

While Shazam will obviously have to go up against the two sisters, Hespera and Kalypso, in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, he won’t be doing it alone. In 2019's Shazam!, it was revealed that Billy Batson uses Shazam’s staff to share his powers with his foster siblings, who all seem to obtain special powers, and also change into fancy superhero costumes. The film will most likely be an epic showdown between two teams of siblings. 

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is scheduled to premiere in theaters on June 2, 2023.

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Source: Deadline