Shazam! Fury of the Gods: the box-office flop is compensated by the excitement of the fans for the cameo of Wonder Woman. Let’s rebuild the story!
The world of Shazam! and directed by David F. Sanberg has accustomed us, since the first episode of 2019, to going crazy for mysterious cameos. In the first film, the cameo of “faceless” Superman ended up at the center of public attention: Henry Cavil was filmed only for the torso, while his head was by stunt-man Ryan Handley. It was called a missed cameo, and opened to numerous interpretations, which presaged Cavil’s farewell to the role of Superman. In Shazam! Fury of the gods History Repeats itself: What Happened to Wonder Woman’s Cameo?
Wonder Woman into Shazam! Fury of the gods: what happened?
The fake Wonder Woman on set
Let’s try to reconstruct the story: even before the release of Shazam! Fury of the godsDC advertised a cameo that would be featured in the film, starring Wonder Woman. Given the unlikely release of the third chapter in the history of the Princess of the Amazons, fans have focused on the cameo to understand its possible hidden meanings (as, in fact, they had done for Superman in Shazam!).
The wrath of the fans started screaming “deepfakes!” after the publication, on Instagram, of some images from the set: Gal Gadot does not appear as Wonder Woman, but the stunt double Taylor Cahill. Indignant fans did not accept that Wonder Woman appeared as the result of a combination of images, and convinced themselves that it was the same formula used for Superman: Taylor Cahill’s body and only the face, recomposed during editing , by the beloved Gal Gadot.
Taylor Cahill on the set of Shazam! Fury of the gods
In the post in question, which stirred up the most indignant fans, model Taylor Cahill writes: “Now it’s no longer a secret!I’m so thankful for this incredible opportunity to be Wonder Woman’s stunt double, aka Pretend Wonder Woman! I would like to thank Gal Gadot, Zachary Levi, the entire cast and crew, and CLICK Models who made this an incredible experience. Now stop reading and go watch Shazam! Fury of the gods!“.
“Stop!”: director’s explanation
We shot the scene with Taylor to figure out what coverage we then needed to get with Gal since she couldn’t make it to Atlanta. It’s also Taylor’s body of hers with the wizards head on it. There is absolutely no deepfaking going on. When you see Gal it’s 100% her.
— David F. Sandberg (@ponysmasher) March 18, 2023
The great disappointment and confusion, especially on Twitter, which have swept among the fans have forced David F. Sanbergto run for cover, explaining precisely what really happened. The truth lies in the middle some would say, and so it is in this case too!
The director writes on Twitter: “We shot the scenes with Taylor to figure out what shots we needed to shoot it with Gal, until she couldn’t do it, because she was in Atlanta. It’s Taylor’s body in the scene with the wizard’s head as well. There is absolutely no deepfake. When you see Gal, it’s her 100%“.
With Sanberg’s words, therefore, we reveal the mystery: Taylor Cahill’s stunt double served the director to prepare the scene, arrange the set and the surrounding actors, so as to prepare the background for Gal Gadot. The real Wonder Womanhe shot the scene later, and it was then recomposed on the basis of the preparatory one with the stunt double. Now there are no more doubts, the cameo of Wonder Woman is played by Gal Godot.
With the occasion, Sanbderg also put an end to the issue of Superman cameos in Shazam!: the same should have happened, but the second part of the process was missing. “Shoot with a stunt double first, then get the required coverage with Cavill. Only the second part never happened in Shazam!”.
The case is closed: Wonder Woman remains Gal Godot, even in Shazam! Fury of the gods. What will become of his character? And above all, after the box office flop, we will get to the third chapter of Shazam?
Marchigiana, student passionate about Letters and lover of stories. I feed on music and words. “I have a kind of sense of emptiness, I filled it with films and photos”. I have a head that thinks too much and reasons through film scenes: for this I am grateful to the cinema.