Zachary Levi Reveals DC ‘Desperately Tried’ to Get Henry Cavill Involved in ‘Shazam!’

Image via Warner Bros.

Dwayne Johnson isn’t the only DC star that wanted Henry Cavill to make a comeback in the DCU. Turns out that Shazam!‘s Zachary Levi also fought for Superman to appear on screen, not the headless cameo that we got at the end of the first film.

The DC actor went live on Instagram and revealed that he too wanted Cavill to appear in the film’s final scene. Levi revealed that the people working on Shazam! tried to get him involved and that the headless cameo that appeared in 2019 wasn’t part of the plan. Unfortunately, things don’t always go according to plan and the headless Superman cameo ended up in the final product.

“We, for years, we have been doing everything we can to fight for you, the fans. Yes, even you fans that don’t like me. All of you fans who love Henry Cavill, we tried desprately to get Henry Cavill in the first movie. He wasn’t a headless Superman because we wanted him to be a headless Superman. We were thwarted. All of these hardworking people were thwarted. We were not allowed to have that happen, okay.”

Levi emphasized that he wanted to do these crossovers with other DC characters and blow people’s minds, just like the children in the Shazam! end credits scene. And it was upsetting when he learned that Cavill couldn’t be involved.

“Listen guys, I am a comic nerd and I’ve been growing up with this stuff. I love all this stuff. I want to blow all of your minds with all the crossovers and all the goods. And trust me, it bummed me out greatly when we couldn’t get Henry Cavill.”

It was reported in the past that Cavill couldn’t appear in Shazam! due to scheduling conflicts. The film’s director David Sandberg shared how the original scene would have gone if Cavill did appear, and created a version that featured an edit of Cavill’s head. There was also speculation that due to Cavill’s refusal to make the cameo, DC decided to drop him as the iconic superhero, despite him still being under contract with Warner Bros.

At least with Shazam! Fury of the Gods, another major Justice League superhero made an appearance, and not as a headless cameo this time.