The wizard Shazam has been around for millennia. As such, it stands to reason that his champions would have accrued more than their fair share of villains over the years. When young Billy Batson, portrayed by Asher Angel(High School Musical: The Musical: The Series), chooses to accept the powerful wizard’s proposal, he takes on the disparate skills of the mythical figures Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury (or, if you take the first letter from the names of each of these historical figures, S-H-A-Z-A-M). A superhero whose power is derived from such cosmically significant sources must necessarily have villains of equal strength.
In the firstShazam!film, the primary antagonist is Mark Strong (Cruella) as Dr. Thaddeus Silva, who serves as a host for the Seven Deadly Sins. In the upcoming sequel,Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the villains will be Rachel Zegler (West Side Story) as Anthea and Helen Mirren (The Queen) as Hespera, two daughters of the Greek Titan Atlas.
Unfortunately for DCEU enthusiasts everywhere, the secondShazam!film’s release datehas been delayedonce again. Nevertheless, it has already been announced that a third film will eventually be produced, and fans have already begun to speculate which classic comic book enemy will take on the superhero next. Who could be the villain inShazam! 3?
Mister Mind, a Super Intelligent Silkworm
Given the empyrean heroes from which Shazam draws his powers, it might surprise folks to learn that one of his foes in the original comic book series is asilkworm named Mister Mind. In fact, the character has already made an appearance in the DCEU. At the end of the firstShazam!film, Mister Mind visits Dr. Thaddeus Silva in his prison cell and discusses a possible alliance against the superhero.
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Mister Mind has advanced intellectual capabilities. He hails from Venus and is the only remaining member of his species. In the more recent iterations of the character, he has telepathic powers that allow him to “worm” his way (if one can excuse the pun) into the minds of his enemies.
Though some versions of Mister Mind are of little concern to the powerful Shazam, certain storylines have seen the worm reach galactic proportions and become a universe-threatening villain, which would definitely make the character a threat worthy of the DCEU.
A Villain of Historic Proportions, Captain Nazi
As the name suggests, Captain Nazi, also known as Albrecht Krieger, was given super soldier powers by his scientist father in order to serve Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. He is tasked with defeating American superheroes to assist in the war effort. Though there is a lot of problematic historical context associated with this character, setting him up as Shazam’s antagonist in the third film would allow the character to go from a family-friendly hero to something a bit more in keeping withDC’s darker tone.A villain with such an awful background gives a hero free rein to exercise their full force.
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In his original comic book appearance, he was the character that injured Freddy Freeman to the point of being physically disabled. Captain Nazi struck Freddy with an oar after the kind-hearted character saved him from drowning following a battle with Shazam.
DC’s Newest Antihero, Black Adam
Black Adam, portrayed in the DC cinematic universe by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, is briefly discussedin the firstShazam!. He was the former champion of the wizard Shazam before he released the Seven Deadly Sins upon the world. The character was initially meant to be the first film’s villain, though it was ultimately decided that it would be better to allow the wildly famous Dwayne Johnson to have his own movie.
Though the character will likely become something of an antihero over the course of his feature film, it is still possible that he could appear inShazam! 3as an antagonist.Black Adam has a historywith the wizard Shazam, and it’s unlikely that this soured relationship will be left unexplored in future projects. If he chooses to take on the wizard in the future, the superhero Shazam and company will be standing in his way, which could definitely lead to an epic battle.
Shazam isn’t an alien or some sort of super soldier. His powers are derived from figures that are, in some cases, literally biblical. Nevertheless, villains with more humble roots are able to give him a run for his money, even though DC creatives chose to go with antagonists in the first two films who were more omnipotence-adjacent. InShazam! 3, it might be a good idea to pull back and let the superhero take on a classic comic book character.
