Despite James Gunn’s DCU, Shazam 2 still nods to the Snyder « DCEU » with Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman in scenes that were both gags and pivotal to the story, says director David Sandberg.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods was never going to be a covert Justice League movie or a Black Adam sequel. Worlds would not collide for Billy Batson and his superpowered crew of foster kids — and director David F. Sandberg was happy to keep it that way. The Swedish filmmaker, who cut his teeth in the horror world on films like Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation before jumping over to the world of DC Comics adaptations, loves Shazam, loves the Shazamily, and loves to unleash hordes of gods and monsters upon Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in order to test their might. In the sequel, he even put a dome over Philly to keep Batman and Superman — and any questions about Batman and Superman’s whereabouts — at bay.
But there was one big DC universe crossover Sandberg pushed for, as a mea culpa for the original Shazam’s wacky headless Superman scene.
[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for the end of Shazam! Fury of the Gods.]
In the final scene of 2019’s Shazam, Billy, in Shazam mode, interrupts Freddy’s lunch to introduce a friend: Henry Cavill’s Superman! Kinda! Instead of an in-person cameo, Superman walks in carrying a cafeteria tray, but his head is out of frame.
Not exactly what “the fans” may have been looking for out of an interconnected-universe cameo, but it made Sandberg laugh. And when it came time for Shazam! Fury of the Gods, he knew he wanted to do two things: put Wonder Woman in the movie, and nod to the first movie’s notorious non-appearance.
“Wonder Woman was always in the script,” Sandberg says.
