Full spoilers to follow for Shazam! Anger of the gods.
Shazam! Anger of the Gods director David F. Sandberg has revealed that Wonder Woman’s unexpected cameo has been part of the superhero movie from the start.
Speaking exclusively to TechRadar ahead of the release of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) movie – read our Shazam! Anger of the Gods review if you haven’t already – Sandberg explained how Gal Gadot’s superhero made her way into the sequel.
From the start, Sandberg – in addition to Shazam! 2 writers Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan – wanted Wonder Woman to make a crowd-pleasing cameo Anger of the Gods. As Sandberg explained to TechRadar, “No, that [Wonder Woman’s appearance] was always in it [the script] from the beginning.”
Despite wanting to include Gadot in Shazam’s second live-action outing, Sandberg was skeptical whether Gadot and/or Warner Bros. would be included. agreed to include her in the film. How come? Sandberg had already been burned before – the director previously expected to land Henry Cavill’s Superman for a cameo in 2019’s Shazam! before it fell through at the last minute.
“I had my doubts it would actually happen,” Sandberg said. “That was because of what happened to Henry in the first movie, that fell apart and I had to use a stand-in and cut his head off. But yeah, Wonder Woman was always there, even though I didn’t think we would getting bile.”
Wonder Woman’s cameo shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, mind you. Like Shazam, the DC superhero – real name Diana Prince – has ties to Greek mythology as she is the daughter of Zeus. Given Shazam’s own ties to the Greek gods, not to mention the appearance of the antagonistic Daughters of Atlas in Anger of the GodsShazam and Wonder Woman seem like a match made in heaven.
Well, from a team-up point of view, anyway. If Anger of the Gods shows, Shazam — or rather, teen Billy Batson — doesn’t stand a chance of actually dating Wonder Woman, even though the movie mocks him as he does in a funny dream sequence earlier in the runtime. As Sandberg revealed, Gadot appeared in Shazam! 2 was always just a cameo, meaning there was never another script that featured her more prominently.
“Gal has never had a bigger part because, you know, we’ll never get her!” Sandberg added. “We’ve gotten a lot bigger with this movie, but it’s still Shazam. It’s a little bit smaller than other superhero movies, so I was just happy to have her. It was like ‘Finally we’re getting a DC cameo with a real actor’s head in a movie!’
That also allowed us to tease people with the scene with the wizard’s head on Wonder Woman’s body. That’s something you can only do if you actually make her appear at the end. Otherwise people would p* **be* go away and just walk out of the theater uninterested.
Unfortunately for Sandberg, and for the film’s cast and extended crew, Wonder Woman’s cameo was surprisingly spoiled before Anger of the Gods‘ Edition. A TV spot for the film, which aired last weekend (March 11/12), confirmed her appearance in Shazam! 2 — a revelation that prompted Sandberg to tweet a warning to his followers about the spoiler-focused ad, plus any other major spoilers audiences would want to avoid before seeing the movie on the big screen.
Well, there are some major Shazam spoilers right now. If you want to get into it new, maybe don’t be online or watch TV with ads… Pretty good advice in general, actually.March 11, 2023
It’s unclear why Warner Bros. decided to cast Wonder Woman’s cameo in a TV spot. Perhaps the studio executives were concerned that the upcoming DCEU movie wouldn’t do well at the box office, and thought that revealing Wonder Woman’s performance would send some viewers, who were probably about to see it in theaters, to the cinema would attract. their local movie theater to see Diana play a role in the plot.
Either way, it’s a fun cameo that gives Gadot closure on playing the iconic superhero in the DCEU. New DC Studios co-head James Gunn has confirmed (per IGN (opens in new tab)) that he has spoken with Gadot about a possible appearance in his and Peter Safran’s new look DC Cinematic Universe (DCU), with the DCU’s first projects revealed in late January.
However, it’s unclear if Gadot will reprise her role as Wonder Woman, or if she’ll play someone else. If it’s the latter, Anger of the Gods may turn out to be one of her last appearances as the popular superhero.
For more DC-based coverage, read how to watch the DC movies in order. Also read our extensive Shazam! Anger of the Gods interview with Sandberg, or find out which DCU movies and TV shows we’re most excited about.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is now in theaters. Shazam!, one of the best superhero moviesis available to stream on in our opinion HBO max.