The DC FanDome event this weekend was surprisingly fun and engaging. Fom the new game announcements and trailers to the short but sweet panels, it was an ambitious event that really worked and made me excited for what else we will see when the second round of content hits on September 12th. (Come on, FanDome, give me that Doom Patrol season three announcement!)
But one of the most delightful moments of the event came during the “shazoom” panel for Shazam! It’s fitting that the most joyful and delightful entry in the DC movie pantheon would have the most fun for their panel. Star Zachary Levi was joined by Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Faithe Herman, and Megan Good for the chat. The cast poked fun at fan campaigns to re-edit the movie and played with the fact that there was pretty much nothing that they were allowed to reveal, but the biggest and most fun surprise came in the form … of Sinbad?
Yes, ’90s comedy legend Sinbad crashed the panel (after Faith Herman drew him into a fake poster for the sequel), teasing what may or may not be a real cameo in the next Shazam! movie, which will be called Shazam: Fury of the Gods. And there’s a very good and very meta reason he was there. Because everyone remembers that Sinbad was in a genie movie called Shazam … that doesn’t exist.
What’s that you say? You, like me, totally remember commercials for Sinbad in a genie movie called Shazam at some point in the ’90s? Well, that movie never happened, apparently. Its existence in our collective memory is a great example however of the Mandela effect: the phenomena where lots of people remember a thing wrong. It’s named for the belief that many people had that Mandela died in prison in the ’80s, when in fact he died in 2013. “Mandela effect” testimonials have spread so far and wide there was even a movie made based on the concept.
But the Shazam thing feels the biggest and weirdest manifestation of these phenomena, to me at least, because I totally remember that movie existing? And no, I don’t think I’m confusing it with the Shaquille O’Neil movie Kazaam where Shaq played a genie, which is a common explanation for our collective confusion. I can picture the commercials in my head … and yet, there was no Sinbad-starring Shazam.
But there might be now? Sinbad came into the Shazoom panel to joke about how he’s the number three google result for the Mandela effect and tease a possible cameo in the new Shazam! Sinbad himself has claimed, and repeated on Saturday, that this other Shazam movie didn’t happen, but having him in the panel and (I hope) the movie will add a new chapter to the very weird story.
All in all, I loved the panel for the reasons I love Shazam! and loved DC FanDome in general: it was fun. It showed that superheroes don’t need to be so serious and angsty to resonate emotionally or to make an entertaining movie, and it showcased the creativity and inclusivity that DC seems to really care about, which I applaud.
No word yet on anything else about Shazam: Fury of the Gods, and if and how Sinbad may appear, but one thing I know for sure: I’ll be there to watch.
(via: Critical Hit, image: DC FanDome)
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