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Shazam! Fury of the Gods almost featured some major DC cameos, with Superman and Batman at one point planned to make an appearance.
The new DC film sees the return of Billy Batson (Asher Angel/Zachary Levi) and the rest of the Shazamily, as they go up against Helen Mirren's Hespera and Lucy Liu's Kalypso – the fearsome Daughters of Atlas. As it turns out, though, the superhero team almost had two Justice League members trying to give them a helping hand.
At one point in the movie, a giant dome over Philadelphia comes into play, and this is where Superman and Batman would have made their brief appearances. "I did early on think like we should have a scene, at least on a news report or something, where you can see from far away something like Superman trying to get in or Batman standing outside, pounding the dome or something," director David F. Sandberg told ComicBook.com. "That was dropped pretty quickly, because that also opens up a whole 'nother can of worms because then you really start thinking about it. Well, yeah, clearly they are here, so what's going on?"
At the moment, the DCU is in a state of major flux with co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran taking the reins, meaning it's not clear which actors would have portrayed Superman or Batman in Shazam! 2 had the cameos happened. Henry Cavill is out as the Man of Steel, with a new Superman film on the way that will be written and directed by James Gunn.
A new Batman and Robin film is also in the works, titled The Brave and the Bold, which will feature a new actor as Batman. Making things even more complicated, The Flash, due out later this year, will feature both Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton as their versions of the Dark Knight – and then there's Robert Pattinson, starring in The Batman universe, which will fall under the Elseworlds banner.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is in theaters now. For much more on the movie, check out our spoilery deep dives on:
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods ending explained
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods post-credits scenes explained
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods cameos explained
- When will Shazam! Fury of the Gods be on HBO Max?
- Are Shazam and Black Adam the same?
- How to watch the DC movies in order
- The comic history of the Shazam Family explained
- All the new DC movies and TV shows coming soon
- Our guide to DCU Chapter One: Gods and Monsters
- The comic history of Shazam and the Justice Society
- Do Shazam and Wonder Woman have a shared history in comics?
- The comic history of the Olympian Gods
- Shazam 2 director explains why the first movie’s villain doesn’t return
