While he may have made his name directing the horror movies Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation, director David F. Sandberg entered the superhero world with a bang at the helm of DC movie Shazam! in 2019. Following the positive critical and audience reaction to the arrival of Zachary Levi’s different superhero, a sequel was very quickly put into production, but due to the Covid pandemic, it has taken a few years to finally see Shazam! Fury of the Gods head to the big screen. While the first movie ended with a teasing Superman appearance, Sandberg has said that the Man of Steel will not be making an appearance in the sequel, and he also doesn’t have any desire to make a Superman movie.
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Shazam! introduced Billy Batson to the DCEU, a child who gains the power to become a powerful superhero and save the world. The movie has not only produced a sequel, but spin-off Black Adam will arrive in cinemas this summer, bringing Dwayne Johnson’s violent anti-hero to the big screen after many fans were a little disappointed that he didn’t make an appearance in Shazam!, and it doesn’t seem there will be any crossover between the two yet. Shazam! Fury of the Gods was originally not meant to release until next summer, but in the recent shake-up of Warner Bros. DC slate, the film was pulled forward to this December.
While talking during an Instagram AMA, via Comicbook.com, Sandberg explained why his wish to direct a new Superman movie has waned due to the intense fan base of the DC franchise and the reaction to other films like The Last Jedi. He said:
“At one point I would have said Superman, but when there are so many different expectations and hardcore fans you’re going to piss off so many people no matter what you do. Seeing how people react to things like The Last Jedi makes me want to stay away from things like that. Shazam! was perfect in that there hadn’t been that many adaptations before. There are still people who think it was done wrong, but it was on a manageable level.”
A Superman Sequel Will Come, But It’s Hard to Know When
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As Sandberg has made clear, there is a lot of pressure when it comes to making big franchise movies, and while Matt Reeves has had massive success with his unexpected and raw take on Batman, there is an ongoing debate about what to do about Superman’s next movie outing. Since the Justice League movie, and its Zack Snyder re-working, Superman’s only on-screen appearances have been short cameos in Shazam! and as a silhouetted figure in James Gunn’s Peacemaker series finale. There has been plenty of talk about bringing the Man of Steel back, although Henry Cavill has previously cast doubt over whether he would return in the cape, and currently, the future is very uncertain.
One of the biggest issues facing filmmakers looking to take on an iconic franchise such as Superman comes down to precisely what Sandberg said. Fans are very protective of certain characters and if they don’t like the end result, or even if they don’t think certain actors should be cast in the roles, then it makes a subsequent movie release an uphill struggle for movie studios to contend with. Considering the backlash that The Batman originally took at the casting of Robert Pattinson in the lead role, as opposed to its success at the box office, most of those fears of rejection by the fans can often be nothing to worry about. In a time when studios are still licking their wounds from losses made during the pandemic, however, some risks are still not worth taking.
