Greetings Welcome back nerdy list aficionados and it’s time talk about Shazam!
The movie name you have to yell cause there’s an exclamation mark in it.
So we’re going to be taking a look at some Easter Eggs you may have missed.
Perhaps you were eagle eyed and saw all of Easter eggs so we’ll see.
I’m Sasha and let’s talk Easter Eggs, also of course spoilers
Number 10 – A bit of a casting Easter Egg, John Glover is in this film playing Dr. Sivana’s
father, you what you may be wondering.
Well John Glover lent his voice to the Riddler in the Batman animated series that aired during
the 90s and is still considered by many to be the quintessential Batman series.
He also played Lionel Luthor Lex Luthor’s father in the mid 2000s tv hit Smallville.
So a bit of a fun nod to earlier DC works.
Number 9 – Marvel Family Costumes, so this film decides right off the bat to go full
Superfamily and the modern expanded iteration of it too.
So for those not in the know they may have missed the small visual queue that each of
the children destined for the power of Shazam was wearing something coloured the same hue
as their eventual costume.
There you go some clothing foreshadowing.
Number 8 – While Shazam embraces it’s comic book roots it does tweak things here
and there and not all of Billy Batson’s fantastical cast of characters have appeared…yet.
However there was a nod to one featured on Billy Batson’s backpack.
On the back of his knapsack is a Tiger.
This could be a reference to Mister Tawky Tawny an anthropomorphic Tiger and friend
to the Marvel family.
He is a Tiger who travelled from India to the US with hopes of integrating into society
however people are afraid of him cause well he’s a tiger.
In fact people think he’s attacking that’s how he meets Captain Marvel who well quickly
sees what a nice Tiger he is and the two become friends Captain Marvel even gets him a job.
That’s his first origin before DC bought Captain Marvel’s comic publisher.
We’ll get to Captain Marvel’s name in a minute.
Like most things pre DC this was all a lot more whimsical.
Though he was a toy come to life later on and there is a tiger toy in this film hmmm,
anyways however he shows up I’d love to see tawny.
Number 7 – Ok so I’m pretty sure you all saw or will see this, y’all noticed Black
Adam he appears as a figure in the wizard’s magical diorama which he shows Billy, about
the last great champion who abused his power.
We of course know that this was Black Adam who has spent millennia holding onto to his
powered form.
So a brief moment but encouragement that that Black Adam movie is still happening.
Thank goodness I mean the Rock’s been waiting.
We’ve been waiting, it’s time.
Number 6 – Fawcett High, so Billy Batson has been stationed out of Fawcett since the
comic company was taken over by DC, the hero initially operated out of New York.
The name Fawcett city was chosen as it was the name of the company that initially created
and published Captain Marvel.
Fawcett Publications, later renamed Fawcett comics.
Founded by Wilford Fawcett in 1919.
So it may seem like a given that the kids go to Fawcett high but it has long been a
nod to their original publisher.
Captain Marvel has had a rough time legally.
Number 5 – So you all saw or will notice Mister Mind the evil caterpillar lurking in
his terrarium, who is either a super smart alien or an evil telekinetic menace maybe
both depending on which canon we go with.
However that’s not the Easter egg he is front and centre after he recruits Sivana
in the film’s mid credit sequence.
However, it’s what Mister Mind symbolizes that matters more Mister Mind is the founder
of the Monster society of Evil who are actually one of the first recurring Super Villain teams
in comics.
So that means that if we go far back we could see villains like Dummy a living ventriloquists
dummy or Mr. Who a shapeshifter.
I just want them to keep the name Monster Society of Evil so on the nose.
Number 4 – Superman, ok so near the end of the film there is a brief from the chest
down Superman cameo which of course you all saw it who could miss the man of Steel.
However, seeing these two on screen together is pretty iconic.
It’s happened in animated form of course, but these two have had a history of lawsuits
behind the scenes.
Dc comics at the time National comics sued Fawcett for copyright infringement claiming
that Captain Marvel was essentially Superman even copying some of the Superman comic strips.
However it turned out that DC hadn’t copyrighted those strips so Fawcett won.
However ultimately this lawsuit which had been brought forth in 1841 gone to trial in
1948 and settle kind of in 1951 led to the companies bankruptcy, as DC was continuing
to fight.
A decline in the superhero genre led to Fawcett deciding to let go and selling their assets.
So as one can imagine there’s been a rivalry between these two characters for awhile.
And there are a lot of nods to this in the films animated credit sequence.
It’s nice to see things are finally settling.
Number 3 – Shazam we’re edging closer to the names now while Shazam has been known
as Captain Marvel for decades there was a period in time when people actually thought
the characters name was Shazam we’re coming full circle.
While he’s called Shazam today because of legal issues.
Initially in 1975 when DC put a big push towards revamping his character the comic series that
happened in was titled Shazam in such bold print that many assumed that that was the
characters name, not Captain Marvel.
However subsequent publications would feature the Captain Marvel far more prominently on
their letterheads which cleared up that confusion, and now people are confused once more.
Only some people though.
Number 2 – The subway in the film Billy finds himself running from some bullies onto
a Subway that ultimate takes him to the rock of eternity to meet the wizard and become
Shazam.
This is a nod to Billy Batson’s first origin cause at this point of course the character
has had several.
When he first ever appeared Billy a 12 year homeless newsboy usually sleeps in the subway
station when one night he sees a mysterious man and being a curious investigative sort.
He follows him, onto a magic subway car adorned with magical symbols, which take shim to his
destination.
So as one can see the film does a decent job updating this but keeping the most salient
points.
Number 1 – Captain Thunder- Oh Captain Marvel a.k.a Shazam.
So Billy Batson has had naming issues since the get go starting with Fawcett comics having
no idea what to call him, the running name for a time was Captain Thunder and this is
one of the many names Freddie gives him the film along with Power Boy,Captain Sparkle
fingers and sir zaps a lot.
However Captain Thunder was the name that he almost got until last minute the company
thought about going with Captain Marvelous which proved too large for the word balloon
and was hence shortened to Captain Marvel.
And now he’s Shazam so his superhero name is literally his transformation word you would
think that would be more of a problem then it is it would be like if Superman’s superhero
name was Kryptonite.
Little bonus one for you cause it might be very reachy but the wordsKingsbury publishing
appear in some subway ads.
And Vanessa Kingbury is the name of the villain Shrike.
She’s never been a Captain Marvel or Shazam villain perse but you never know.
Ok so this movie was fun, a lot of fun.
Although in my heart Shazam will forever be Captain Marvel.
So yes here were some Easter Eggs when you get back from the film let me know what you
noticed down below.
I’m Sasha thanks for watching top 10 nerd.