Helen Mirren is The Latest in the ‘Oscar Winner to Superhero Film’ Pipeline
It’s finally time to put to bed the notion that acclaimed serious actors don’t appear in superhero comic flicks. Cate Blanchett awoke many sexualities as Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, Christian Bale transformed his body to play Batman, and Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen kicked off the trend in the 2000s as Professor X and Magneto in the original X-Men films. Now, Dame Helen Mirren has just signed on to appear in the DC Extended Universe film Shazam: Fury of the Gods, where she’ll be playing a villain. Thespians in comic book movies, apparently the world can’t get enough.
Shazam: Fury of the Gods is the sequel to 2019’s Shazam! Zachary Levi, the former star of NBC’s Chuck, is reprising his role as the titular superhero. As Deadline reports, Mirren’s character is named Hespera, and she’s likely going to be based on ancient Greek mythological nymphs called the Hesperia. They were called “Daughters of the Evening,” and ruled over gardens and the sunset. Interestingly, the character does not actually exist in comic books.
Hopefully, this all means we’ll see Mirren outfitted in exquisite pieces — as our generation’s foremost monarchial actress, she’s no stranger to giant royal costumes that would exhaust most of us.
This isn’t Mirren’s first less-than-serious role. In 2017, she also starred in The Fate of The Furious, proving that no matter your age or prestige, everyone enjoys seeing cars go fast.