Who is Hespera in 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods'? A look at Helen Mirren’s powerful Greek mythology character
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The best part about superhero movies is that we get to see our favorite superheroes in some of the best comic book adaptations. 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods' will be a literal "gift from the gods" as we get to see our favorite sarcastic superheroes back in action. We got to know that the gods from Greek mythology will be paying the 'Shazam' tribe a little visit, but the best part is the supervillain trio that will grace our screens. The daughters of Titan Atlas are the antagonist of the film. Lucy Liu's Kalypso and Rachel Zegler's Anthea will be joined by the third and the eldest daughter of Titan Atlas, Hespera.
In Greek mythology, Hespera (or Hespere) is one of the Hesperides, the nymphs of the evening and the golden light of sunsets. The goddess will be played by the exceptional actor Helen Mirren, known for her roles in 'The Queen', 'Prime Suspect' and '1923'.
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What day and time will ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ release? And everything else you need to know
Who is Hespera?
Our favorite Helen Mirren has taken up the role of one of the Greek Goddess supervillains in 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods'. The sequel is going to be an interesting one as we see the Shazam tribe being visited by the Greek Goddesses. Like Lucy Liu's Kalypso, Helen Mirren's Hespera is also a character that is out of the syllabus and isn't mentioned in the DC comics.
Hespera is the main villain of the movie and is the eldest daughter of the god Atlas. She possesses immense power and fights the Shazam family as she is resentful of their powers. According to Greek mythology, god Atlas had 3 nymph daughters known as the Hesperides (aka, the Nymphs of the West, Daughters of the Evening, or Atlantides) the daughters are responsible to give off light at the sunset. Although the daughters are seen seeking revenge on the Shazam tribe, the original story of the nymph's daughters didn't show them in this light. In fact, they don't do much in the original story.
Exploring Greek mythology is a DC thing
DC has always leaned into Greek mythology, for example, 'Wonder Woman' included had included Ares and referenced Zeus. 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods' explores the daughters of god Atlas. While the common superpower between the daughters is that they all are immortal, other than that they possess different powers. Hespera is a goddess that is on the neutral scale of evilness, meaning that sometimes she is good and sometimes she is evil. While we all know that she holds resentment against Shazam and wants to seek revenge to get all his powers, the intentions of Hespera are still unclear. She might be one of the good guys that start out as bad, but then goes through an entire character modification and becomes best friends with the protagonist. What’s more, Atlas’ comic book counterpart has superhuman strength and invulnerability, which is likely what Hespera will possess as well in 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods.'
The movie will be released in the theatres near you on March 17, 2023. Until then, stay tuned.
