The newest installment in the Shazam! franchise has brought Billy Batson face-to-face with elements of a world outside his own. In a recent interview, David F. Sandberg reveals why the first film’s connection to the broader universe was left headless.
Many fans were upset at the end of the first Shazam! film when the end of the film teased Superman’s appearance in a high school cafeteria but cut before the actor’s face could be seen. It was revealed by Sandberg, who directed the first film, that the footage fans saw was merely a placeholder for the real thing that they were forced to use when things fell apart:
“I mean, the funny thing was, in the first movie we were gonna have Henry [Cavill] show up as Superman,” Sandberg told Collider. “Then, when we were shooting that scene, they were like, ‘Well, Henry is not gonna make it on this day, so we’ll shoot it with a stand-in and then we’ll have to pick up his coverage later on.’ It’s like, ‘Okay…’ So, we shot it like that, and then the Henry thing fell apart and we couldn’t do it. So we had to just use the stand-in footage, and that’s why it ends before you see his face.”
Sandberg was able to find humor in this less than ideal situation, even using it as an excuse to poke fun at the concept of a headless hero with a joke in the sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods. While Henry Cavill would later reprise his role as Superman in Black Adam, James Gunn and Peter Safran taking over as heads of the DCU would have that be his final time in the role as they opted to pursue a younger actor for the role. It’s unclear at this time if Zachary Levi’s version of Shazam will meet whatever version of Superman lies in the future of the DCU.
The talent behind the Shazam! sequel
David F. Sandberg directed Shazam! Fury of the Gods from a script written by Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan, Shazam! Fury of the Gods. The film stars Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Adam Brody, Ross Butler, Meagan Good, D.J. Cotrona, Grace Caroline Currey, Faithe Herman, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Marta Millans, Cooper Andrews, Djimon Hounsou, Rachel Zegler, Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren.
The official Shazam! Fury of the Gods synopsis reads as follows: “Bestowed with the powers of the gods, Billy Batson and his fellow foster kids are still learning how to juggle teenage life with having adult Super Hero alter-egos. But when the Daughters of Atlas, a vengeful trio of ancient gods, arrive on Earth in search of the magic stolen from them long ago, Billy—aka Shazam—and his family are thrust into a battle for their superpowers, their lives, and the fate of their world.”
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