Written By Kieran Bugg and and Mikey Sutton • Editor-in-Chief • Owner
Warner Bros. has a hook to reel in SnyderVerse fans to see Shazam! Fury of the Gods. It won’t work. In fact, it could backfire on the studio in a major way. They took a page from the Black Adam marketing plan. Remember Henry Cavill’s post-credits cameo? No, there’s no Cavill Superman here. Not even a headless one.
Nevertheless, it’s another SnyderVerse cameo.
This time, though, they’re throwing it in your face. The DC crowd is polarized. The SnyderVerse base has strength in numbers. Warner Bros. wants to attract their attention. They won’t hide this one like Cavill in Black Adam. They need to trigger interest in a DC adventure that is tracking horribly. Although the SnyderVerse has no future at Warner Bros., they have nothing to replace it with yet.
Therefore, Warner Bros. throws SnyderVerse fans a bone.
Warner Bros. Tries To Fool SnyderVerse Fans Into Watching Shazam! 2
Image: Warner Bros. Discovery
With the release date literally just around the corner, Warner Bros. has finally started advertising for the upcoming Shazam! sequel. TV spots are now airing pretty much everywhere you look. Nonetheless, it could be too late to make a difference to the poor box-office projections. To the general public, though, they might think Wonder Woman has a supporting role. She doesn’t. They could be seriously let down.
Despite all the positive buzz from critics who’ve already seen the movie, anticipation remains at an all-time low. Mainly because of the drastic change of course DC is on under newly appointed co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran.
In addition, controversy over Zachary Levi’s blaming of director Zack Snyder for the DCEU’s lack of success hasn’t helped. In what seems to be a desperate attempt to generate hype, Warner Bros. has decided to reveal a major spoiler.
The first exclusive footage of Shazam! Fury Of The Gods shown at CinemaCon in Las Vegas featured a Wonder Woman cameo. In the footage, she’s shown to be on a date with Zachary Levi’s cheesy superhero in an obvious dream sequence.
The pair are seen having dinner together in Paris. On the other hand, Gal Gadot’s face was not shown, leading many to believe that this will end up being a faceless cameo. Much like Superman’s disappointing appearance at the end of Shazam! which didn’t even feature Cavill.
On the contrary, a recent TV spot for the sequel has fully revealed Gadot’s Wonder Woman in all her glory. The footage gives us a brief close up of the character’s metallic red and gold boots before giving us a glimpse at Gadot. She has her back turned to Shazam while his entire foster family and Rachel Zegler’s Anthea watch them exchange words.
Warner Bros. Tries To Fool SnyderVerse Fans Into Watching Shazam! 2
Image: Warner Bros. Discovery
Shazam cheekily gives Wonder Woman the “call me” hand motion. An obvious reference to the fact that Billy Bateson has developed a crush on the Amazonian Princess.
While grinning, she looks back at Shazam and says:
“Stick to saving the world, kid.”
A short but sweet moment to give fans more reason to watch Shazam! Fury Of The Gods.
But is it enough?
After all, Gadot’s future as Wonder Woman is still up in the air following director Patty Jenkins’ departure. Would fans want to go see the picture knowing this could be the last time we see her as the character?
She was strongly rumored to have an appearance in The Flash later this year. Gadot did, in fact, film scenes for Ezra Miller’s upcoming solo movie. In addition, there’s also leaked photos of a Wonder Woman Funko Pop! based on her appearance in The Flash. Unfortunately, there’s still a chance that these scenes could ultimately be cut from the final film. It happened to Cavill.
With that being said, there’s a possibility that the Shazam! Fury of the Gods will mark the end of Gadot’s Wonder Woman.