Superman may be in Shazam!, a move that may allow DC the chance to correct one of the very worst scenes in Justice League. One of the aspects of the forthcoming Captain Marvel film that makes it so exciting is what the movie will say about the DC Extended Universe in the post-Justice League world. By bringing Superman back from the dead, Zack Snyder's super team-up flick injected no small amount of hope into the DCEU. However, Justice League rather famously has flaws. In its own way, Shazam! may actually be able to fix one of the glaring issues with Justice League: Superman himself.Superman appearing in Shazam!, with Henry Cavill's Man of Steel suiting up once more, is a hot rumor surrounding David F. Sandberg's film. Further, the reports suggest that, even if the appearance proper doesn't come to pass, at the very least, Superman will to serve as the inspiration and role model for young Billy Batson in how he chooses to conduct himself as a superhero when he says the magic word and transforms into the Big Red Cheese.Related: What Future DC Movies Are Actually Coming Out?Assuming Cavill is going to appear as Superman in Shazam!, there's already a simple and clever way to bridge Sandberg's film with Justice League and establish that Billy Batson was in the DCEU all along. Not just aiding integration, this could allow Shazam! a chance to fix past errors, putting Supes and his pals in a whole new and better light. And it starts with Justice League's very first scene...Was Shazam Secretly In Justice League? (This Page)

Was Shazam Secretly In Justice League?

Henry Cavill as Superman in portrait in Justice League

Justice League opens with Superman being interviewed via cell phone camera by a young boy, wherein the Man of Steel is at pains to think of his favorite thing about humanity (besides Lois Lane). However, fans watching are at pains to look at the horrendous CGI used to digitally erase the mustache on Henry Cavill's face that he had to sport for his role in Mission: Impossible: Fallout. It's distracting from the very first frame, and never lets up throughout the movie. Worse, within the story, nothing is physically wrong with Superman; he's meant to be as handsome as ever. Perhaps more confusingly, for once he's being friendly and gregarious, a strange leap ahead from the conflicted hero we saw in Man of Steel.

The boy Superman is talking to, though - that's the interesting part. One fan rumor is that Shazam! may establish that the boy Superman is indulging in a friendly convo is actually Billy Batson. This would then become a pivotal moment in Billy's life: the day he met the Man of Steel face to face and got to chat with him in a way few ever do. After all, no one in Batman V Superman besides Lois, Batman, Lex Luthor, and Wonder Woman ever heard a peep from Superman's mouth. Not the people he saved anywhere in the world, nor the Congressmen and onlookers he didn't bother to save when Lex Luthor's bomb detonated inside the U.S. Capitol. No, this unnamed, faceless young boy got to have an actual conversation with Supes.

If that does turn out to be Billy Batson pointing his cell phone camera at Superman, this gives the rather bizarre opening scene of Justice League a new depth and importance. Not only would it neatly and rather effortlessly link Justice League to Shazam!, solidifying the bond within the DCEU, it instantly communicates the importance of Superman as an inspiration to the superheroes who follow in his example. The Man of Steel as "a beacon of hope" began with Batman rejecting his obsession with Superman and his downward spiral of anger and despair. Instead, the Dark Knight opted to form a team that would emulate Superman's example of heroism, before they brought Superman back to life so he could join that very League. But more than giving a depressed and angry billionaire vigilante like Bruce Wayne a new optimism and desire to work well with others, it's more important that we know the DCEU's Superman inspires children, as he should.

Related: Justice League (Almost) Delivers The True Superman

Billy Batson being the boy interviewing Superman addresses that Billy is a kid reporter in the classic Captain Marvel comics; of course he would attempt to get a scoop and talk to Superman. Meeting and being inspired by Kal-El could then become the seed planted in Billy's mind when the unthinkable happens and an ancient wizard grants him the means to become an adult as powerful as Superman just by saying a magic word: I can be like Superman! (Plus, if Billy meets Clark Kent, then he also gets to meet a real-life ace reporter for the Daily Planet - someone else an aspiring young reporter can emulate.)

Justice League Movie Official

Will Shazam Return to the Justice League Opening?

Batson being the boy holding the cell phone is definitely something Shazam! should establish and run with, and not just forward. We could revisit the scene. It would allow Shazam! to deftly retcon Justice League by giving us to the chance see this opening again, but with an important twist: Superman would actually look the way he's supposed to! Cavill could reshoot that scene, this time clean-shaven. It's too late to repair how Superman looks in Justice League, but fans could at least be given that one moment with a proper-looking Superman.

Meanwhile, the perspective could shift so we could see the scene from Superman's point of view and how he sees Billy Batson, the kid who will eventually become a hero as powerful and good as he is. It would be extra amusing because Superman naturally would have no idea who he's talking to - until perhaps a reveal at the end of Shazam! where Batson/Shazam comes clean and Clark finds out it's the same kid he met once... only bigger and older.

Related: Every Change Whedon Made To Snyder's Justice League

Based on Billy meeting Superman, Shazam! can then be about Billy attempting to live up to Superman when he gets his powers. On a meta level, this addresses how Captain Marvel was originally Fawcett Comics' direct ripoff of National/DC Comics' Superman in the 1940s. If Shazam turns out to be a great superhero - one whose deeds in his film aren't met with the same amount of mistrust and even hostility Superman's were Man of Steel and BvS - that can become a wink to how Captain Marvel comics were once so wildly popular they outsold Superman's four-color strips in their heyday.

How Shazam Can Fix The DCEU Superman

If some of this harkens to Spider-Man: Homecoming and how we got to see the Avengers' fight at the Berlin airport from Peter Parker's point of view via his cell phone, well, that wouldn't be the worst thing from Marvel Studios for DC to emulate. It definitely makes sense; Billy Batson would be even younger than Parker, and as a Millennial, he probably would always have a cell phone handy so he can shoot vlogs and constantly be sharing via social media. Batson is the first teenage superhero in the DCEU, so he would naturally act like any modern kid.

This is not to say that Shazam! should be DC's Homecoming: Redux. Superman wouldn't and shouldn't be a direct mentor who interferes in Billy's affairs like Tony Stark was to Peter Parker. Billy's motivation shouldn't be to constantly impress Superman so he can get his own chair at the Hall of Justice complete with a stylized lightning bolt insignia. Outside of a cameo, Superman should be more of an idea for Billy to aspire to. Shazam! should let Billy stand on his own as a superhero and find his own way.

But, even with limited screen-time, the fact that Billy would emulate Superman and use him as the basis for how he acts as a superhero is exactly the kind of fix Superman in the DCEU needs. After all, since his rebirth and the retcon by Justice League that Superman was someone the world loved rather than feared and distrusted, we now need to actually see that in DCEU films, and Shazam! is the perfect vehicle to convey how the world now looks at the true Superman (which is the way they should always have seen Superman). Justice League brought back Superman's light to the world, and now it's time to see that light applied. The best way to do that is to see that Superman inspired others to strive to be their best selves, especially young people, whether they have powers or not. In the case of Billy Batson, it's both.

Related: WB's Rush To Catch Up to Marvel Ruined The DCEU

While Shazam! no doubt will and should concern itself primarily with Billy Batson's coming of age and his adventures as the superhero, the decidedly lighter and funny tone Sandberg is said to adopt can also help redefine the DCEU as a universe with brighter, more upbeat potential. This would brilliantly follow the model Wonder Woman began and inject the franchise with not just more hope, humor, and heart, but also the one thing the centuries-old Diana Prince simply can't offer: the electricity of youth.

Meanwhile, Shazam! can help reestablish Superman's position as the prime superhero, strengthening fans' desire for the rumored Man of Steel 2. But, most importantly, through Superman Shazam can learn the all-important lesson that as a hero, his mightiest muscle is his heart, not what's given to him by the lightning borne from uttering a magic word.

NEXT: What Will Henry Cavill's Last DCEU Superman Movie Be?

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