Director David F. Sandberg's DC film Shazam! concludes on a shot of Superman himself -- shown only from the neck down -- turning up during Fawcett Central School's lunch hour to introduce himself to Freddie Freeman as a favor to Billy Batson. However, Sandberg explains his original idea for the Man of Steel's cameo was slightly different.
According to Sandberg, the original concept for the cameo followed the same basic idea of Superman meeting Freddie during his lunch time. The key difference is that in his original vision, DC Extended Universe star Henry Cavill would have reprised his role as Superman and spoken a few words of dialogue.
During a Q&A session on his Instagram story, Sandberg spoke to his original plan for the brief crossover. "He sat down at the table. They had a brief chat. There was a joke about (sort of) school food and then it ended with Freddy just leaning into him, and it going like, 'I have so many questions,' and then it cut out."
As much as the director would have liked to get Cavill himself to make an appearance in Shazam!, however, real-life developments behind-the-scenes do sometimes get in the way. And as it currently stands, the chances of the Mission: Impossible star ever donning Superman's blue and red tights again seem very, very slim. Cavill last played the Last Son of Krypton in 2017's Justice League and has since moved on to other, non-DCEU projects, most notably Netflix's upcoming series based on The Witcher. Meanwhile, it was Ryan Handley -- Zachary Levi's stunt double -- who stepped up to play Superman in Shazam!.
Directed by David F. Sandberg and starring Zachary Levi, Shazam! is currently available on digital HD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD.
(via Heroic Hollywood)