Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Shazam
Newly released DC superhero movie Shazam features a special guest cameo from Superman - but not from Henry Cavill. The Man of Steel makes an appearance at the very end of David F. Sandberg's movie, shown only from the neck down as he joins Shazam and the Shazam Family for lunch at school. While it's certainly a fun and fitting way to end a movie that portrays the DC Extended Universe from the perspective of teenagers, Superman's cameo may also be confusing to fans who are wondering why the star of three previous DCEU movies doesn't show his face.
While the three previous DCEU solo movies have been about an alien with godlike powers, a demigoddess, and the heir to the throne of Atlantis, Shazam has a considerably more humble origin story. Foster kid Billy Batson is a troublemaker and frequent runaway, and in his very first scene he locks two police officers in a pawn shop and then steals their lunch. He certainly falls short of the "pure of heart" champion that the wizard at the Rock of Eternity is searching for, and when he does get superpowers he uses them to buy beer, rob ATMs, charge people money for selfies, and other decidedly non-heroic acts.
Related: Every SHAZAM! Easter Egg & Comic Reference
When the evil Doctor Sivana arrives on the scene with the intent to steal Shazam's powers, however, Billy figures out how to be a superhero with a little help from his newfound family. And once the dust has settled, Billy thanks his foster brother and best friend Freddy - with a little help from Superman.
- This Page: Shazam's Superman Cameo Explained
- Page 2: Shazam and Superman's Comic Book History and Superman's DCEU Future
Superman's Role In Shazam
Shazam is set in the same universe as Man of Steel, Batman V Superman, and Justice League, and it establishes just how commercialized superheroes have become. From T-shirts to action figures to battle souvenirs, a whole industry has built up around them and the members of the Justice League are basically viewed as celebrities - especially by Billy's foster brother, Freddy Freeman. Freddy, who thinks that the best superhero power is flight, is a particularly big fan of Superman, and owns a bullet that bounced off Superman's body... until Billy drops it into a grate.
Billy more than makes up for losing the bullet in the final scene of the movie, however. Not only does he show up as Shazam to hang out with Freddy at school lunch, he also says that he brought a "friend" along with him. That's when Superman makes his appearance, walking up to Freddy's lunch table with a tray full of food - but he's only shown from the neck down. Yes, while Superman does have a cameo in Shazam, Henry Cavill doesn't.
Why Henry Cavill Isn't Superman In Shazam
The Superman cameo was intended as the conclusion to Shazam's story from the earliest drafts of screenwriter Darren Lemke's script (which was later given a rewrite by Henry Gayden). This was in late 2016 and early 2017, when the DCEU had wobbled a little with the divisive response to Batman V Superman, but Warner Bros. was aiming to get things back on track with Justice League. By the time Shazam actually got around to filming at the start of 2018, the future of the DCEU was looking a lot less certain, Cavill's contract only covered one more movie, and there were rumors of him attempting to renegotiate this contract. It's most likely because Shazam was filmed in such a period of uncertainty that Cavill himself doesn't have a cameo in the movie.
Related: Shazam's End-Credits Scenes Explained
Superman Has A New Suit In Shazam
We may not get to see Superman's face in Shazam, but that just allows us to pay more attention to his costume - which is ever so slightly different from the suit that he wore in Man of Steel, Batman V Superman, and Justice League. While the overall costume design is basically the same, Superman's suit in Shazam has two red and gold portions at his hips, perhaps as a nod to the superhero's classic look of wearing red underwear on the outside of his costume. The comics shed the underwear-on-the-outside look with the New 52 relaunch, replacing them with a red belt, and Cavill's Superman suit is usually blue from the bottom of his "S" down to the top of his boots. Perhaps Warner Bros. is preparing audiences for the red underwear's eventual creep back into the movies... or perhaps we're over-thinking a minor costume change.
Page 2: Shazam and Superman's Comic Book History and Superman's DCEU Future
Superman's History With Shazam
Superman and Shazam haven't always been friends, and behind the scenes they got off to a rocky start. Shazam, in his original incarnation as Captain Marvel, didn't start out as a DC character. He debuted in the pages of Whiz Comics, from publisher Fawcett Comics, a year after Superman made his own debut in Action Comics. Captain Marvel was more or less a Superman rip-off by design, with Roscoe Kent Fawcett instructing the staff at Fawcett Comics to "give me a Superman" with the alter-ego of a young boy. The character was a hit, outselling even Superman comic books at his peak, and DC (then called Detective Comics) launched a plagiarism lawsuit that would drag on for more than a decade before eventually being settled out of court in 1953. As part of the settlement, Fawcett agreed to cease publication of Captain Marvel comics.
Captain Marvel lay dormant until 1972, when Detective Comics (now called DC Comics) licensed the character it had once tried to sue out of existence from Fawcett. DC rebooted the Captain Marvel comics under the title Shazam!, due to conflict with Marvel comics' own Captain Marvel. In the spirit of their early behind-the-scenes clash, Shazam and Superman have frequently ended up fighting one another in the comics - in part because Shazam is one of the few superheroes powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with Superman. This tradition of fisticuffs goes all the way back to Superman and Shazam's very first meeting in Justice League of America #137, when Superman was turned temporarily evil by Red Kryptonite and Shazam ended up snapping him out of it by hitting Supes with magic lightning. Shazam and Superman's first meeting in the DCEU is, by comparison, far more mellow.
Related: Everything We Know About Shazam 2
Superman's Future In The DCEU
Make the most of Superman's cameo in Shazam, because it will likely be the last we see of Superman on the big screen for a while. Warner Bros. has been moving away from Justice League's vision of the DCEU and filling up its release schedule with more solo movies for Wonder Woman and Aquaman (whose first solo movies were huge successes), soft reboots like The Batman and The Suicide Squad, and creatively diverse projects like Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), DC Super Pets, and Joker. Henry Cavill is currently busy filming Netflix series The Witcher, and while he's expressed enthusiasm for returning to the role of Clark Kent, Warner Bros. doesn't appear to have any plans for him right now.
The Rest Of The Justice League In Shazam
It's not just Superman who has a cameo appearance in Shazam - the rest of the Justice League show up as well! That is to say, they show up in animated doodle form. Shazam's ending credits reflect the movie's teen worldview of the established DCEU superheroes, with fun fantasy scenarios like Shazam using the Batmobile to take Wonder Woman to the school prom, and Darla having a race with The Flash.
More: Every DC Movie Coming After Shazam
