Minor spoilers ahead for Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Over the past decade we’ve seen the comic book genre become a powerful force in the entertainment industry. Although serialized storytelling does come with some complications, like when explaining why no other heroes are typically called during solo movies. And Shazam! Fury of the Gods director David F. Sandberg recently answered that “why no Justice League?” question for his DC sequel.
For both the MCU and DCU, audiences are often wondering why none of the heroes call for backup during their solo movies, given the formation of The Avengers and the Justice League respectively. Sometimes screenwriters have to jump through hoops to explain why crossovers aren’t happening, and the folks behind Shazam! Fury of the Gods definitely thought about why other heroes weren’t showing up (except for that cameo of course). Director David F. Sandberg addressed this in a conversation with Polygon, sharing:
Marvel gets this too. Why aren’t the Avengers here? Why isn’t the Justice League here? Well, it can’t have the Justice League, even if that would be cool, but that was something we talked about — and that’s kind of why we have the dome over Philadelphia, a forcefield that keeps people out.
There you have it. Rather than ignoring the existence of other heroes like the Justice League, Shazam 2’s story was able to stay contained thanks to the dome that the Daughter of Atlas trapped the entire city of Philadelphia under. And just like that, it was up to Billy Batson and his family to deal with the movie’s antagonists on their own.
David F. Sandberg’s comments to Polygon come from a larger conversation that he and screenwriters Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan had about their work on Shazam! Fury of the Gods. For his part, the filmmaker recently revealed that he’s taking a break from superhero movies and going back to his horror roots.
For the DC sequel, the dome created by the Daughters of Atlas was the perfect macguffin to keep the story contained. Although there reportedly could have been a Black Adam tie-in that Dwayne Johnson shot down. Screenwriter Chris Morgan spoke more about how the dome positively impacted Shazam 2’s story, sharing:
I really appreciated the pressure cooker of it. I think in an early draft the dome comes in early, and then it got pushed back a little bit, kind of toward the end of the second act. But it’s cool, because you see the effect it’s having on the city — it’s a way to ramp up the tension and then ultimately isolate Shazam from the family.
Of course, Shazam would get a crossover moment when Gal Gadot’s Diana Prince suddenly appeared towards the end of Fury of the Gods. This was unfortunately spoiled in the trailers leading up to the movie’s release, but was cool nonetheless. It also turned heads since Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 3 was scrapped. What exactly does Gadot’s future in the franchise look like?
It’s also unclear what’s going to happen next with Shazam considering it was filmed before DC’s new leadership came and started making sweeping changes to the shared universe. Is the Shazamily’s story over, or will they continue to appear in future blockbusters? Only time will tell.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is in theaters now. Be sure to check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
