How Shazam! Fury of the Gods lassoed that Wonder Woman cameo
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Billy Batson and his Shazamily aren't the only heroes in Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
When the DC sequel hit theaters earlier this year, much of it focused on foster kid Billy (Zachary Levi), who teams up with his superpowered siblings to take down the nefarious Daughters of Atlas (Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, and Rachel Zegler). But Fury of the Gods (now streaming on Max) also features another key DC figure: Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, who makes a surprise cameo near the end of the film.
Wonder Woman technically appears in the film twice: About midway through, Billy has a dream that he's on a date with Diana in Paris, but the audience only sees the back of her head. Later in the film, Billy succumbs to his injuries and dies, only to be resurrected by Wonder Woman (who has the godlike powers to revive him).
Gadot's appearance is technically a surprise, but Warner Bros. spoiled her cameo long before the film even hit theaters, releasing ads with Gadot. (Director David F. Sandberg was less than thrilled, and on Twitter he urged fans to avoid spoilers.) When EW spoke to Levi earlier this year, the actor opened up about how Gadot's cameo came together.
"I was just stoked that she was down to it," Levi said. "She crushes it. It was really cool that Gal was down to play in our sandbox."
Warner Bros. (2) Zachary Levi as Shazam; Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman
Levi added that because much of the film's story centers on Greek mythology, he and Sandberg had long hoped to bring in Wonder Woman. (After all, the Themysciran princess is also the daughter of Zeus.) Gadot was more than happy to don Diana's gauntlets again — but scheduling proved tricky.
"She was busy working," Levi recalled. "She was shooting something else entirely, so we had a body double on our end. Then we were able to shoot her stuff on another side. I think they did a great job seamlessly cutting all that together. And I love that Billy is so in love with her. He's so infatuated, and he's so nervous! That was fun to tap into. It felt like going back to being my 17-year-old self."
Wonder Woman isn't the first big DC name to pop up in the Shazam franchise. Superman appears in the final moments of the original 2019 film, although his face is never seen. So, if Levi were to make a third Shazam movie, is there another iconic DC character he'd like to snag for a cameo? "That's a really good question," he mused. "Maybe Green Lantern? I'd like to see Green Lantern help us fight the hordes of undead. I think that would be really cool."
Notably, Fury of the Gods isn't the only film this year to have a surprise Gadot cameo. (Spoilers for another franchise ahead.) The actress also pops up in the final seconds of Fast X, reprising her role as onetime Fast & Furious family member Gisele. The character supposedly fell to her death at the end of 2013's Fast & Furious 6, but Gisele arrives in the final minutes of Fast X to once again save the day — piloting a submarine to Antarctica to help rescue Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and Cipher (Charlize Theron) from prison.
As for Gadot's future as Wonder Woman? That remains in question. Plans for a third Wonder Woman movie were announced shortly after Wonder Woman 1984 hit theaters in 2020, but that project has since been put on hold. After James Gunn and Peter Safran took over as co-chairs of DC Studios last fall, they announced that the studio would not be moving forward with Patty Jenkins' planned Wonder Woman 3. Time will tell whether Gadot will pop up in another, yet-to-be-announced project — or whether Shazam! Fury of the Gods will be her last outing as Diana.
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