Zachary Levi Wants 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods' To Release Earlier, Reveals Sequel Details

Zachary Levi opened up about his highly anticipated movie, "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" and noted he wanted the movie to release earlier than June 2023.

"I will say that I genuinely and this is not just lip service — I'm really proud of the first one, I think we made a really, really good movie. I think the second one is better," Levi told Collider on Wednesday.

The 41-year-old actor further explained why he believes the sequel is better than the first one. He noted they had more time and more budget to work on "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," which they lacked in the first installment, "Shazam!" that came out in 2019.

"We had, essentially, the entire cast returning, and we all knew our characters a little bit more; we could kind of sit into them a little bit more," he said.

The actor further noted screenwriter Henry Gayden, who penned the first installment, was also responsible for writing the second one and he did a "fantastic job."

Levi further noted the reasons why people will connect more with the sequel.

"Everything just clicked even a little bit more and a little bit more," he added. "And also the kids [referring to the kids' characters involved in the movie] have grown up a little bit more, so even the sensibilities of them become even slightly more mature which brings it closer to my or other people's adult minds, so there's even more connection there, I think."

Levi said the action and comedy in the upcoming movie were going to be great. He also praised the relationships developed in the sequel as "great," and the bad guys played by Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu also did a "fantastic" job.

"I'm very proud of it. I want it to come out sooner than June of 2023," he concluded.

Superhero Shazam! first appeared in Whiz Comics #2, which was released in 1939.

Besides "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," DC Extended Universe is also expected to release "The Batman," "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," "Black Adam" and "DC League of Super-Pets" in 2022.