Skip to main content

Shazam! Fury of the Gods' big cameo wasn't a shock last-minute inclusion

Full spoilers follow for Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods director David F. Sandberg has revealed that Wonder Woman's unexpected cameo was part of the superhero movie from the get-go.

Speaking exclusively to TechRadar ahead of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film's release – read our Shazam! Fury of the Gods review if you haven't already – Sandberg explained how Gal Gadot's superhero found her way into the sequel.

From the outset, Sandberg – alongside Shazam! 2 writers Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan – wanted Wonder Woman to make a crowd-pleasing cameo in Fury of the Gods. As Sandberg explained to TechRadar: "No, that [Wonder Woman's appearance] was always in there [the script] from the beginning."

Despite wishing to include Gadot in Shazam's second live-action outing, though, Sandberg was skeptical that Gadot and/or Warner Bros. would agree to include her in the movie. How so? Sandberg had already been burned before – the director previously expecting to land Henry Cavill's Superman for a cameo in 2019's Shazam! before it fell through at the last minute.

A screenshot of Wonder Woman's cameo in Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Wonder Woman makes a crowd-pleasing cameo in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. (Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

"I had my doubts that it was actually going to happen," Sandberg said. "That was because of what happened with Henry in the first movie, which fell apart and I had to use a stand-in and cut off his head. But yeah, Wonder Woman was always in there, even though I didn't think we'd get Gal."

Wonder Woman's cameo shouldn't come as too big of a surprise, mind you. Like Shazam, the DC superhero – real name Diana Prince – has ties to Greek mythology as she's the daughter of Zeus. Given Shazam's own links to the Greek gods, not to mention the appearance of the antagonistic Daughters of Atlas in Fury of the Gods, Shazam and Wonder Woman seem like a match made in heaven.

Well, from a team-up standpoint, anyway. As Fury of the Gods shows, Shazam – or, rather, the teenage Billy Batson – doesn't stand a chance at actually dating Wonder Woman, even if the film pokes fun at him doing so in an amusing dream sequence earlier in its runtime. As Sandberg revealed, Gadot's appearance in Shazam! 2 was always just a cameo, meaning there was never another script where she featured more prominently.

"Gal never had a bigger part because, you know, we're never going to get her!", Sandberg added. "We went a lot bigger with this movie, but it's still Shazam. It's a bit smaller than other superhero movies, so I was just glad to get her at all. It was like 'Finally, we get to have a DC cameo with an actual actor's head in a movie!'

"That also allowed us to have with the scene with the Wizard's head on Wonder Woman's body to sort of tease people. That's something you can only do if you actually have her show up at the end. Otherwise, people would be p****d off and just walk out of the theater unimpressed."

Unfortunately for Sandberg, and for the movie's cast and extensive crew, Wonder Woman's cameo was surprisingly spoiled ahead of Fury of the Gods' release. A TV spot for the film, which was released last weekend (March 11/12) confirmed her appearance in Shazam! 2 – a reveal that led Sandberg to tweet out a warning to his followers about the spoiler-centric advertisement, plus any other major spoilers that audiences would want to avoid before seeing the film on the big screen.

See more

It's unclear why Warner Bros. decided to release Wonder Woman's cameo in a TV spot. Maybe the studio's executives were concerned that the forthcoming DCEU film wasn't tracking to perform well at the box office, and thought that revealing Wonder Woman's appearance might make some viewers, who were likely on the fence about seeing it in theaters, head out to their local cinema to see how Diana factors into the plot. 

Either way, it's a fun cameo that gives Gadot some closure on playing the iconic superhero in the DCEU. New DC Studios co-head James Gunn has confirmed (per IGN) that he's spoken to Gadot about potentially appearing in his and Peter Safran's new-look DC Cinematic Universe (DCU), with the DCU's first projects having been revealed in late January.

It's unclear if Gadot will reprise her role as Wonder Woman, however, or if she'll portray someone else. If it's the latter, Fury of the Gods may prove to be one of her final appearances as the popular superhero.

For more DC-based coverage, find out how to watch the DC movies in order. Additionally, read our in-depth Shazam! Fury of the Gods interview with Sandberg, or read about which DCU movies and TV shows we're most excited for.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is in theaters now. Shazam!, which is one of the best superhero movies, in our opinion, is available to stream on HBO Max.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Windows Copilot leak suggests deeper assimilation with Windows 11 features

Key Windows 11 features may soon be customizable as Microsoft further integrates its Windows Copilot AI assistant into the operating system. This tidbit comes from tech news site Windows Latest , which claims to have discovered new .json (JavaScript Object Notation) files within recent preview builds of Windows 11. These files apparently hint at future upgrades for the desktop AI assistant. For example, a “TaskManagerService-ai-plugin.json” was found which is supposedly a “plugin for Task Manager integration”. If this ever comes out, it could give users the ability to “monitor or close running apps using” Copilot. In total, six are currently tested and they affect various aspects of Windows 11. Next, there is an “AccessbilityTools-ai-plugin.json” that gives Copilot a way to “control accessibility [tools]. This would make it "easier for those with [a] disability to navigate through the system.” Third is “ai-plugin-WindowsSettings.json” for controlling important Windows 11 set...
Post a Comment
Read more

Google Chrome releases security fix for this major flaw, so update now

Google says it has fixed a high-severity flaw in its Chrome browser which is currently being exploited by threat actors in the wild.  In a security advisory , the company described the flaw being abused and urged the users to apply the fix immediately.  "Google is aware that an exploit for CVE-2023-2033 exists in the wild," the advisory reads. Automatic updates The zero-day in question is a confusion weakness vulnerability in the Chrome V8 JavaScript engine, the company said. Usually, this type of flaw can be used to crash the browser, but in this case it can also be used to run arbitrary code on compromised endpoints.  The flaw was discovered by Clement Lecigne from the Google Threat Analysis Group (TAG). Usually, TAG works on finding flaws abused by nation-states, or state-sponsored threat actors. There is no word on who the threat actors abusing this flaw are, though. Read more > Patch Google Chrome now to fix this emergency security flaw > Emergency...
Post a Comment
Read more

Samsung's ViewFinity S9 may be the monitor creatives have been searching for

Originally revealed during CES 2023 , Samsung has finally launched its ViewFinity S9 5K monitor after nine long months of waiting.  According to the announcement, the ViewFinity S9 is the company’s first-ever 5K resolution (5,120 x 2880 pixels) IPS display aimed primarily at creatives. IPS stands for in-plane switching , a form of LED tech offering some of the best color output and viewing angles on the market. This quality is highlighted by the fact that the 27-inch screen supports 99 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut plus delivers 600 nits of brightness.  Altogether, these deliver great picture quality made vibrant by saturated colors and dark shadows. The cherry on top for the ViewFinity S9 is a Matte Display coating to “drastically [reduce] light reflections.”  As a direct rival to the Apple Studio Display , the monitor is an alternative for creative professionals looking for options. It appears Samsung has done its homework as the ViewFinity S9 addresses some of...
Post a Comment
Read more