Shazam 2 Director Says DC Wouldn't Allow Film to Mention Fan-Favorite Character

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is now in theaters and while the film is full of heroes and villains and even some big cameos, it turns out there was a reference to one fan-favorite character that DC simply wouldn't allow. In an interview with TikToker Henry Calvert (via The Direct), Shazam! Fury of the Gods director David F. Sandberg played a game where he guessed if a character was a real DC character and when it came to Detective Chimp, that's where the big reveal came in.

"Well, he's real," Sandberg said before revealing that while he wanted to refer to him in the film, he wasn't allowed. "I wanted to… He's DC. Yeah, I wanted to put a reference to him in the movie, but we weren't allowed to."

Who is Detective Chimp?

First appearing in Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #4 in 1952, Detective Chimp — alias Bobo, not his real name — is a chimpanzee with superhuman-level intelligence who solves crimes while wearing a look not unlike that of fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes. He originally helped solve the murder of petting zoo owner Fred Thorpe, and later went on to become a superhero on his own and has, over the years, teamed up with the Justice League, Shadowpact, and other heroic groups. The character has long been a fan-favorite — and even Sandberg has said that he'd like to make a movie about the character previously.

What is Shazam! 2 about?

In Shazam! Fury of the Gods, when Billy Batson and his foster siblings, who transform into superheroes by saying "Shazam!", are forced to get back into action and fight the Daughters of Atlas, they must stop them from using a weapon that could destroy the world in which they must travel in order to make peace with the Gods because of Billy taking their powers for granted.

The film stars Asher Angel and Zachary Levi as Billy Batson / Shazam!, Grace Caroline Currey as Mary Bromfield, Adam Brody as Super Hero Freddy, Faithe Herman as Darla Dudley, Meagan Good as Super Hero Darla, Ian Chen as Eugene Choi, Ross Butler as Super Hero Eugene, Jovan Armand as Pedro Pena, D.J. Cotrona as Super Hero Pedro, Marta Milans as Rosa Vasquez, and Cooper Andrews as Victor Vasquez. New cast members also include Rachel Zegler as Anthea, Helen Mirren as Hespera, and Lucy Liu as Kalypso.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is in theaters now.