Warning: The following contains spoilers forShazam: Fury Of The Gods.Shazam: Fury of the Godsfeatures a surprising cameo from a DC Extended Universe character, but that cameo might create a plot hole concerning the gods of the DCEU. The movie features Billy Batson (Asher Angel, Zachary Levi) adjusting to his life as a superhero with siblings to share his power. While he wants to keep his new family close and save the day together, his siblings want the chance to follow their own paths. That becomes difficult when the Daughters of Atlas (Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, and Rachel Zegler) enter their lives with the intention of getting the seed for the tree of life - and more godly powers along the way.
The story picks up two years after the events of the firstShazammovie. As a result, Billy and his siblings are a little more knowledgeable about how their abilities work, but they’re still learning more about the lair they’ve taken over. They also learn a lot more about where the powers of Shazam actually come from, which is where the gods of the DCEU come into play, contradicting an earlier DCEU movie.
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How Shazam 2 Explains The Powers Of The Gods
InShazam: Fury Of The Gods, the powers of the gods are no longer present in the mortal realm. These fantastic abilities, like those that make up the powers of Shazam, are only available to the gods unless someone has a special artifact like the wizard’s (Djimon Hounsou) staff. The Daughters of Atlas provide a story about the gods that calls the powers existing in the mortal realm into question.
According to the trio, the gods have been sealed into a separate realm completely by the wizard. When he assembled the powers of Shazam in his staff, he took power from each of the gods or demigods (Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury) to create it. When he did, he used to staff to seal the god realm away. It’s only after Billy Batson breaks the staff during a battle withDr. Sivana (Mark Strong)in the first movie that the barrier between the god realm and the mortal realm is broken. This makes the existence of gods in the DCEU prior to Billy breaking the staff impossible for the last few thousand years at the very least.
Shazam 2 Features A Godly Cameo
There is one known character in the DCEU who has godly lineage, and she does make a cameo inShazam: Fury Of The Gods.Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot)is the child of Zeus and Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen). Zeus is a Greek god and the leader of the Greek pantheon, while Hippolyta is the Queen of Themyscira. Though Diana spends most of her childhood not knowing that Zeus is her father, she does learn of her parentage during World War I during the events of the first movie.
InShazam: Fury Of The Gods, Diana’s appearance in the story is teased early on with Wonder Woman dolls in a pediatrician’s office. Again, her appearance is teased when Billy has a dream about his superhero alter ego on a date with her in Paris. While those teases could have been paid off with a faceless cameo for the hero, much like Superman’s in the firstShazammovie, that doesn’t happen. Instead, Wonder Woman appears just when the Shazam family needs a spark of godly energy so that they can save Billy’s life.
Wonder Woman’s Abilities Counter The Wizard’s Explanation
Wonder Woman being the daughter of Zeus, however, completely defies the wizard’s history. If he sealed the gods away in their own realm thousands of years prior, that means that Diana is thousands of years old. Zeus would have had to create Themyscira (which is getting its own HBO Max show) as a safe haven for the Amazons, father a child, and battle Ares in the War of the Gods, all before the wizard created the staff with the powers of Shazam. It also means that Diana inherited at least some godly power from her father, like her ability to fly and not be harmed by lightning. Diana being thousands of years old might be a bit far-fetched, but it’s not impossible in the DCEU.
It does beg the question though of just how Ares (David Thewlis) was able to battle Diana in the first movie. If all the gods, as theDaughters of Atlas claim, were locked away in the god realm together thousands of years earlier when the wizard took power from them, Ares should have been locked away as well since WWI is only about 100 years before the events ofShazam. Ares shouldn’t have been able to walk among mortals that entire time and spread his ideas of fear, anger, and hate, leading to massive wars throughout history. He and his power should have been contained, creating a plot hole in the timeline of events.
Wonder Woman’s Themyscira Might Explain The Shazam 2 Plot Hole
Just as the wizard uses the power of Shazam he’s harnessed from the gods to seal off the god realm, Zeus uses his own power to create Themyscira. The island is supposed to be safe from the prying eyes of man. It’s a place where the Amazons can live in peace, but also train for coming threats to the world, like Ares himself. The island seemingly exists outside of time and space as the Amazons who live there don’t appear to age - other than Diana, who is born on Themyscira. Themyscira’s very existence might explain thisparticularShazam 2plot hole.
Themyscira isn’t completely closed off from the rest of the world. Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) ends up there by mistake when his plane crashes, after all, and Diana is able to leave with him to go out into the world. It’s entirely possible that other locations like Themyscira still exist in the world that don’t need the aid of magic, or the dimensional doorways that exist in the lair the Shazam family have created around the Rock of Eternity. If so, it would make sense for some gods like Ares to still exist in the world if they managed to hide out in those places when the wizard was busy sealing off the gods.
Of course, after the events ofShazam: Fury of the Gods, DC fans might not ever know if there’s a real solution to this particular plot hole as the DCU is going through a major overhaul under the leadershipof James Gunn and Peter Safran.
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