Hespera is the daughter of Atlas and appears in ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods‘, where the character is played by British actor Helen Mirren. The 76-year-old appears to play a disgruntled god who doesn’t like that children have become superheroes after receiving magical powers – ones that the gods feel belong to them.
When the Academy Award winner was cast, it was announced that the character possibly had “ill intentions”, which suggests a degree of moral ambiguity. Unfortunately, Hespera doesn’t appear in the DC comics although Atlas does. He’s shown as a good or bad character, depending on the storyline, so his daughter might possibly have the same altering stand in the DCEU, which often adds characters outside of the comics when the storyline demands it.
Since Atlas has super-strength and invulnerability in the comics, Mirren’s Hespera might possess the same powers too.
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DC Comics leans heavily into Greek mythology, as evidenced by the inclusion of Atlas. Hespera appears here too and is one of Atlas’ nymph daughters. Together, they are called Hesperides but have other monikers – Nymphs of the West, Daughters of the Evening, or Atlantides, which borrows from their father’s name.
Together, Atlas’ daughters give light during sunsets. Their task is to tend to a garden and protect a golden apple tree, as per Greek mythology.
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Hespera is also the goddess of immortality, and as per Green mythology, remains relatively neutral on the scale of good and evil.
Mirren’s character, being a nymph – as per Greek mythology – possesses the power to transform. In an earlier clip released at CineCon, Shazam believes he’s on a date with Wonder Woman, played by Gal Gadot in the DC movies. However, when he leans in to kiss the Amazonian, she turns into Hespera. Nymphs are also believed to be able to have magical powers to manipulate the part of nature that they control.
