‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ Director David F. Sandberg Talks Wonder Lady Cameo, the Marketing Swerve and Those Credit Scenes

[This story contains spoilers for Shazam! Fury of the Gods.]

After signing up with the DCEU in 2017, Shazam! Fury of the Gods director David F. Sandberg is all set to hang up his cape.

With the 2nd chapter of the Shazamily’s experiences now in theaters, the Swedish filmmaker is lastly able to open about among the highlights of his whole experience. Naturally, that would be Gal Gadot’s Marvel Lady cameo, which he really directed from another location from house. The possibility to appropriately consist of a member of the Justice League likewise offseted Henry Cavill’s Superman cameo that didn’t turn out on 2019’s Shazam!, leading to a headless Superman cameo..

However due to the fact that of that previous frustration, Sandberg still anticipated the worst to occur with Gadot.

“[Wonder Woman] was constantly expected to be in [Shazam! Fury of the Gods], however I didn’t think it was going to take place due to the fact that of what took place on the very first film where we needed to do a headless Superman cameo. I believed that was going to take place here, too,” Sanberg informs The Hollywood Press Reporter

Sandberg includes: “However then it really did take place, which was fantastic, due to the fact that then we might satirize the headless cameo of the very first film, with the Wizard [Djimon Hounsou] dream series. However we never ever might have done that if we didn’t really have Gal at the end due to the fact that individuals would’ve raged.”

Sandberg is likewise clarifying the timing of the mid-credit scene given that it consists of Emilia Harcout (Jennifer Holland) and John Economos (Steve Agee) from James Gunn’s The Suicide Team and Peacemaker With Gunn now the co-CEO of DC Studios together with Fury of the Gods manufacturer Peter Safran, some audiences may be believing that they made a late addition to the movie in order to link Shazam (Zachary Levi) to Gunn’s brand-new DCU slate, however the scene was really shot long prior to Gunn and Safran took the reins of DC.

” There were expected to be characters from [Black Adam’s] Justice Society, however that broke down 3 days prior to we were going to roll video cameras,” Sandberg shares. “So, Peter Safran, who produced this film and Peacemaker, made some calls, and fortunately, Jen Holland and Steve Agee had the ability to visit on extremely brief notification.”

With his responsibilities in the DCEU now ending, Sandberg aspires to go back to his roots in the scary category, which consists of reunions with his Lights Out and Annabelle: Production manufacturer, James Wan, in addition to previous DC Movies president, Walter Hamada. The latter has executive produced all 4 of Sandberg’s function movies..

” I really have one job in advancement with James … and I have actually been yapping with Walter about discovering something to do together. I have actually never ever made a motion picture without him, so I would like to do more with Walt,” Sandberg states.

Listed below, throughout a current spoiler discussion with THR, Sandberg likewise talks about how he was captured off guard by the Fury of the Gods marketing group’s abrupt choice to consist of Gadot’s Marvel Lady in the movie’s last wave of television areas.

Well, you missed your L.A. best due to Covid. How are you feeling?

I’m feeling respectable now, really. I missed out on the best, however I’m back on my feet now.

You were likewise ahead of the ChatGPT curve with “Steve.”

Yeah, it’s kinda amusing how Steve developed into something prompt.

So let’s cut to the chase. When did Gal Gadot’s Marvel Lady participate in the formula?

Right from the start and from the very first script. She was constantly expected to be in it, however I didn’t think it was going to take place due to the fact that of what took place on the very first film where we needed to do a headless Superman cameo. I believed that was going to take place here, too. So I began to believe, “Okay, when she can’t do it or when it breaks down, how do we bring Shazam back to life? Will we need to bring Helen Mirren’s character, Hespera, back? What are we going to do?” However then it really did take place, which was fantastic, due to the fact that then we might satirize the headless cameo of the very first film, with the Wizard [Djimon Hounsou] dream series and things like that. However we never ever might have done that if we didn’t really have Gal at the end due to the fact that individuals would’ve raged..

I understand Shazam!‘s headless Superman cameo was a dissatisfaction at the time, however I valued how you turned it into a running gag with Wonder Lady being headless till she wasn’t.

( Chuckles) Yeah, and a great deal of the credit goes to the authors [Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan], too.

Did Gal’s credibility precede her on set?

Since of a lot of circumstances, I needed to direct her things, from another location. So I was at house, and I had one screen with a feed from the video camera and one feed that was a Zoom window where I might speak with her and everybody on set. It was type of unusual, however it exercised truly well. She was incredibly good and incredibly expert, and it was a dream to deal with her.

What have the discussions with marketing resembled? I can’t picture you desired that secret out, pre-release, however I understand you’re practical also.

I was shocked. ( Chuckles) I was simply returning from journalism trip, and I got a text, asking, “Hey, why ruin Marvel Lady?” And I resembled, “What are you discussing?” So I didn’t understand, and they did excuse not keeping me in the loop. However I comprehend why they did it, due to the fact that they wished to get individuals to see the film. So, naturally, I comprehend, however it’s a pity due to the fact that nowadays, the only audiences who get to see these motion pictures as meant are test audiences. When they saw the film, they didn’t understand Rachel Zegler’s character was a goddess, for instance. For them, it was really a twist that worked, however then, as soon as marketing begun, you need to reveal her in her goddess clothing which entire thing runs out the bag. So nobody is truly going to be shocked that she’s a goddess undercover in a school..

For those who do not understand, you cast Rachel Zegler prior to West Side Story came out, and while enjoying the film, I performed in reality marvel if you wished to keep her character’s genuine identity in the trailer.

Yeah, that was constantly the intent with the film, however as quickly as they began dealing with the marketing, it was simply going to be difficult to keep it secret, sadly. However a great deal of individuals really delight in spoilers. There’s numerous respected leakers and scoopers on Twitter who have numerous fans, and they truly would like to know every information about DC and Marvel motion pictures prior to they see them. If that’s your thing, that’s your thing, however I truly delight in called little about a motion picture as possible. I simply saw The Menu just recently, and I believed it was going to be a cannibal film. So I had no concept what it truly was entering into it.

I simply had this discussion with Matt Reeves just recently in regard to Cloverfield and how you might never ever manage that type of release once again.

Yeah, you could most likely do it with a smaller sized film at a lower budget plan, however a superhero film? Forget it.

So, the mid-credit scene. Based upon the addition of 2 of James Gunn’s characters, Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and John Economos (Steve Agee), individuals might be believing that it was a late addition in order to link Shazam (Zachary Levi) to the brand-new DCU, however that wasn’t the case, was it? It was currently a thing.

Yeah, bad James[Gunn] ( Chuckles) I saw individuals online going, “Stop casting your better half [Jennifer Holland] in whatever,” and it resembles, “No.” So there were expected to be characters from [Black Adam’s] Justice Society, however that broke down 3 days prior to we were going to roll video cameras. I was truly upset due to the fact that we had actually developed that deserted gasoline station set, and we might just shoot that scene because little piece of forest. I resembled, “This is so dull. We require something here.” So the art department developed that entire gasoline station and generated some old cars and trucks and things. They made it look truly good with extremely couple of resources, therefore I resembled, “We have this set and we have the time, so we need to shoot something here.”.

So, Peter Safran, who produced this film and Peacemaker, made some calls, and fortunately, Jen Holland and Steve Agee had the ability to visit on extremely brief notification. I imply, the scene makes a little less sense with them. It resembles, “Why are they hiring for Justice Society?” however you can type of see it as they’re working for Amanda Waller[Viola Davis] So I was simply extremely grateful to get them therein, and it was truly cool shooting it due to the fact that I’m a huge fan of Peacemaker So, sitting there and enjoying the screen seemed like I was enjoying a brand-new episode of Peacemaker, and all of that took place a long period of time ago [before Gunn and Safran became the co-CEOs of DC Studios].

In basic, I understand you’re enabled to reference practically anything you desire as long as you do not reveal it, however with the Captain Marvel and Avengers referrals, did that need numerous levels of approval at the studio?

Simply one level. ( Chuckles) It is odd due to the fact that you can’t [visually] referral whatever you desire. I found that on the very first film when I put in a recommendation to Watchmen, with a little Watchmen logo design thing, and clearance returned to me and stated, “You can’t do that. You need to consult us initially.” You ‘d believe, “Well, it’s all DC, right?” however it’s all extremely complex rights problems and things.

And on this one, I wished to have a recommendation to Investigator Chimp in the pediatrician’s workplace by having a chimpanzee plushy with a little deerstalker hat on him, however clearance resembled, “No, you can’t do that.” However with the Captain Marvel things, [Michael Gray from the ‘70s Shazam! TV show] was expected to simply state, “Holy moley,” however I resembled, “Let’s do one take where you state ‘Captain Marvel’ despite the fact that we’re not going to have the ability to utilize it. Why not?” And after that I asked the people at DC: “Can we utilize that?” And they resembled, “Well, Marvel has discussed DC characters in their motion pictures, so why not?”.

Neither of your motion pictures eventually required Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson), however are you dissatisfied at all that you didn’t get to check out Shazam and Black Adam’s relationship in a significant capability?

No, not truly. The important things about Black Adam is that he has the very same powers as Shazam, and we did that in the very first film where we offered Sivana [Mark Strong] the very same power. So I do not believe the battle itself would’ve been incredibly fascinating, however I do believe it’s a missed out on chance. What makes one of the most sense is to have them battle each other, so it’s cash left on the table. However it’s how it is.

There was a time period where this film was counterprogramming to Avatar: The Method of Water Did you really talk yourself into that concept at one point?

Initially, when they put it there, I resembled, “That sounds frightening,” however then, I really grew to like the concept. I really desired us to remain there. I comprehend the reason that they moved it due to the fact that [Avatar: The Way of Water] was using up all of the IMAX and large-format screens, however I still believe it might have worked a bit like counterprogramming. However who understands?

From the kids to the grown-ups, you have an excellent cast throughout the board, however the disadvantage is that you have 2 deserving stars playing simply one function. So was it a hard balancing act to keep everyone included?

Yeah, that’s why we needed to go the path of taking the kids’ powers away. It would not make good sense for them to be kids for the majority of the film if they might be superheroes, and you wish to see the kids due to the fact that they’re so captivating and fantastic. However it was rather a battle to offer everybody sufficient time, and it’s a bit unequal in the film. It’s likewise an obstacle to shoot also, with numerous stars and characters to wrangle. It was really made complex a bit with Grace [Caroline Currey] playing both young and [Super Hero] Mary. If we had not done that, we might’ve had the grownups in their superhero outfits and simply switched them out, however with Mary’s character, Grace needed to go away for makeup and outfit. So it would take 40 minutes for her to go back and forth.

A smart guy as soon as stated that moviemaking is absolutely nothing however issue fixing. So, what was an example of issue fixing on this film?

Well, we needed to do something with Mary, really. After they have actually conserved everybody on the bridge and they all come together, we have that huge shot that starts with Mary flying in and landing beside video camera. And the method you need to do that is it starts with a digi-double. So it’s a digital Mary, and after that it becomes the genuine Mary, Grace, who’s up on wires and being reduced to the ground. However that takeover simply did not work.

Typically, when you go from a digi-double to a genuine character, you attempt to do it in a quick movement so you get some movement blur to conceal the mixing. And despite the fact that this was an extremely smooth, extremely steady descent, it simply didn’t work, and there was insufficient money and time to renovate the digi-double and whatever. So that’s why there’s a lot of smoke because scene. ( Chuckles) It resembled, “Let’s put this plume of smoke throughout the entire screen.”

So as she goes through that smoke, that’s when the shift occurs in between digital to genuine. It is among those band-aids that you perform in many locations in a motion picture. It resembles, “Let’s include a lens flare or smoke or dust and even unsteady video camera, in some cases.” It’s something to conceal the joints or attempt to camouflage the important things that didn’t work.

I’m sorry for ruining your next YouTube video.

( Chuckles) No concerns.

At the start of the film, a museum guard is frozen with a visual result that is similar to Dune‘s guards, and after that you likewise have a dragon throughout the film. To enhance things, did the studio refer you to the very same VFX business that they utilized for Video Game of Thrones and Dune?

Well, we did utilize Pixomondo for a few of the dragon series, and they did the dragons for Video Game of Thrones However that’s simply what makes good sense. If you’re making Rampage and you require a gorilla, you ‘d call Weta due to the fact that they did the World of the Apes motion pictures. So it simply made good sense to get those people.

It’s amusing that you discussed Dune since that was a recommendation I utilized. It was something that took permanently to solve due to the fact that it was expected to be this force field. What Hespera is really doing is she’s controling the water in his body, and the very first things we did simply did not exercise right. And ultimately, I was taking a look at referrals for force fields, and I resembled, “Hey, look what Dune is doing. That might work if we’re doing something comparable to that.” So it was practically looking for something that worked.

What shot are you most happy with in the movie?

Most likely among the shots in the arena fight towards completion. There’s one shot from listed below the dragon after he simply got struck, and it’s back-lit by lightning. It simply looks truly cool.

Did the Philadelphia Phillies leap at the possibility to have a digital variation of their ballpark ruined in the film?

( Chuckles) I’m not exactly sure. I wasn’t truly associated with those discussions, however I’m truly happy that we got to do it. The very first film was shot in Toronto and this film was shot in Atlanta, and neither location appears like Philadelphia. So we attempted to get as numerous Philadelphia referrals and landmarks in there as we might to make it feel a bit like Philadelphia, a minimum of for individuals who have actually never ever existed.

You offered yourself a cameo death in the film. What were you yelling as your last words?

“ Släpp mig!” It’s Swedish for “let me go.”.

Did Djimon Hounsou value the Wizard’s remodeling at the end?

( Chuckles) Yeah, I believe so. We can see what he really appears like and how trendy he can be. That was a great deal of enjoyable simply bringing him back. He’s an emphasize of the film. We eliminated him in the very first film, and after that for this one, it resembled, “Oh shit. It would be excellent to have him back.”

He got the most significant laugh throughout my screening. It’s when he rolls his eyes at Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) and Anthea’s (Rachel Zegler) smooth talk.

Yeah, he’s fantastic. He’s truly amusing, too. Jack and Djimon were an excellent mix, with Djimon being the straight guy and Jack being the irritating kid.

I likewise believed it was truly creative how the post-credit scene satirizes the last film’s credit scene that you didn’t eventually meet.

It seemed like we needed to do that due to the fact that I understood individuals were going to resemble, “Whoa, what took place to the worm from the very first one? Weren’t you setting something up? What took place?” So we needed to a minimum of do some sort of nod or simply reveal something that states, “Hey, we didn’t ignore him. He’s simply still dealing with something.”

So the Shazam household’s future in the DCU is up in the air, however after 2 motion pictures, have you scratched your superhero film itch at this moment? Are you all set to carry on?

That’s certainly how I feel today, yeah. ( Chuckles) I began my Shazam journey right after Annabelle: Production in 2017, therefore it’s been many years of simply Shazam So I’m extremely all set to carry on and return to scary and simply attempt some other things.

Are you going to follow Walter Hamada to Paramount and set something up there? Or are you going to accompany James Wan to Universal? Both of your manufacturers have actually spread a bit.

Either one would be fantastic. I really have one job in advancement with James. It’s not at Universal, however it’s with his business, Atomic Beast. And I have actually been yapping with Walter about discovering something to do together. I have actually dealt with Walter on every among my motion pictures up until now. I have actually never ever made a motion picture without him, so I would like to do more with Walt.

Well, David Sandberg, congratulations on Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and I can’t wait to see where you go next.

I can’t either. ( Chuckles) Thank you a lot.

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Shazam! Fury of the Gods is now playing in cinema. This interview was modified for length and clearness