Shazam! Director Talks Original Plans to Include Henry Cavill

THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SHAZAM!

A lot of fans were shocked when the end of Shazam! had a surprise appearance from Superman, but we didn't really get to see his face since Henry Cavill was too busy to shoot his cameo. Director David F. Sandberg talks about the original plans to include Cavill, and how we ended up with what we got in cinemas.

Talking to Inverse, Sandberg revealed that there was always a plan to include Superman. He says, "From day one, that was something we always wanted to do… Superman and Shazam have a bit of history." Superman originally had lines at the end of the film as well, but as I said, Cavill was too busy shooting Witcher to actually appear in this film.

As it turns out, they had Zachary Levi's stunt double fill in for the role, and they thought it was hilarious that the movie just cuts right at Freddy's reaction. Sanberg explains:

"We had [Zachary Levi's] stunt double do it, but I was worried… Is this gonna feel cheap? Is this not gonna work? To cut before you see his face, is this gonna feel cheap? Are people gonna feel cheated?"

"… It just made us laugh… You see Freddy's reaction, and a hard cut to credits, and it's just funny. It turned out better than what it was originally where he sat down and had a little chat."

While it does make for a fun gag, I think what people really wanted out of the cameo is that Henry Cavill would confirm that he's still on board as Superman. For now, it looks like he still has the role, but it's more of an issue with WB who currently has no idea what to do with the character.

Hopefully with Shazam! getting a positive reception, we can have more of the iconic heroes onscreen in the future. For now, all we can really do is wait until the DCEU decides that it's finally back on its feet.

Catch Shazam! in theaters today.

See Also: Shazam! 2 is Happening, Original Director and Writer Returning for the Sequel