Shazam's boy-turned-super-dude Billy Batson is a much-needed bolt of bright, cheerful
lightning for the normally dark-and-brooding DCEU.
In addition to being a great movie, the film was also filled with nerdy Easter eggs for
longtime comic book fans.
Here are some of the small details we noticed in Shazam!
Spoilers ahead!
While Shazam may be synonymous with DC Comics today, the Big Red Cheese was originally published
by Fawcett Comics, beginning in 1939.
Back then, he was known as Captain Marvel...
"No it's not!
That's not my name!"
...but that's a whole other story.
His 1939 birthday makes him just slightly younger than Superman, but those few months
would have a huge impact.
In 1941, DC launched a campaign against Fawcett to get them to stop publishing Captain Marvel,
alleging that he was just a copy of Superman.
During the prolonged legal battle, which lasted until 1953, DC even creatively "borrowed"
some story aspects from Captain Marvel, including his power to fly, rather than just leap tall
buildings, and his bald-headed arch-nemesis.
The court decided in favor of DC, an outcome that crippled Fawcett.
Later, in 1972, DC bought the rights to a number of Fawcett characters that they were
no longer allowed to use, including Captain Marvel.
But there seems to be no lingering hate between DC and what was once Fawcett Comics, as DC
drops a pretty bold tribute to Shazam's true origins.
Plastered across the lunchroom wall is the name of Billy's alma mater: Fawcett Central.
That wasn't the last name drop that the movie had in store, though.
When Billy's foster family finds the real names of Billy's parents, his father is simply
identified as "C.C.
Batson", a very clear reference to Shazam's original co-creator, C.C.
Beck.
Shazam fans probably recognized Mr. Mind imprisoned in a glass dome as Sivana entered the Rock
of Eternity, even before the film's mid-credits scene gave the little worm a full reveal.
That character is called Mr. Mind, and he's a squirmy little worm with a very weird backstory.
He's from outer space, he's friends with Nazis, and runs a Monster Society.
Sometimes, he can even eat dimensions.
After Sivana returns to the Rock of Eternity as an adult and defeats the Wizard Shazam,
he not only lets the seven deadly enemies of man escape, but Mr. Mind also breaks out…
setting up the weirdest mid-credits scene of all time.
Young Billy Batson is separated from his teenage mother after she fails to win him a stuffed
tiger at a carnival.
Later on, Shazam hands a tiger doll to a terrified young girl to calm her.
There are tigers on Shazam's costume.
So, what's up with all these tigers?
As always, there's a reason rooted in comics: one of Billy's best friends is a talking tiger.
Obviously.
That tiger, Mr. Tawky Tawny, first appeared in 1947's Captain Marvel Adventures #79, where
it was revealed that he's just an ordinary tiger who really, really wanted to wear clothes
and eat ice cream after consuming a brain-energizing serum.
Why does he need his fancy brain potion?
To defend himself against a murder he'd been accused of, of course!
It's all... weird.
Tawny hops on a boat and shows up in the city, where everyone is terrified of free-roaming
tigers, even when they politely ask questions.
All is resolved, however, when Captain Marvel secures Tawny a job as a museum guide.
All's well that ends well, and Tawny is given a place among the Marvel family.
If we already have talking worms, talking tigers can't be that far behind.
And speaking of talking animals....
Somewhere on the Rock of Eternity, there's a giant cavern full of doors to different
worlds.
One door in particular opens up to crocodiles playing poker, and they aren't just an invention
for the movie.
The Crocodile Men from the planet Punkus first showed up in the early days of Captain Marvel
Adventures, and have names like Sylvester, Herkimer, and Jorrk, working alongside Mr.
Mind and his Monster Society of Evil.
Much later, in 2006, a talking croc named Sobek shows up, and a few weeks later longtime
Shazam villain Black Adam tears him apart and makes boots out of his skin.
So, no matter how you look at it, those card shark crocs were actually kind of a big deal…
and they'll probably be back for more.
Even though Dr. Sivana and Mr. Mind are some of Shazam's most memorable foes, there's one
that's even more notable: Black Adam.
DC announced Black Adam's solo movie in January of 2017, and it was even supposed to show
up before Shazam! — so what gives?
The Wizard Shazam mentions in the film that he had a previous champion who'd betrayed
him, and there's little doubt that he's referring to Black Adam.
In the original comic books, Black Adam is given the powers of the six ancient gods,
but uses them selfishly, so the Wizard banishes Black Adam to outer space.
Adam spends 5000 years trying to make it back to Earth, and when he does, he jealously terrorizes
Billy Batson for many more decades.
So, even though we're set up for a Mr. Mind / Sivana team up in Shazam!
2, it's a good bet that the Wizard's old champion will be showing up for a fight, too.
Shazam! has been described as "Superman meets Big", and that comparison couldn't possibly
be more appropriate, especially after seeing one specific scene in the movie.
While Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia may enjoy a charming duet in the middle of FAO Schwartz
on a king-sized floor piano in Big, Shazam! gives its own spin on the scene during the
shopping mall battle between Shazam and Sivana.
While they don't quite make the same beautiful music together, the colossal piano they wind
up fighting on drives the connection home.
And if you're looking for truly vintage references, look no further than the iconic cover of 1945's
Superman #32, where Superman shrugs off lightning bolts with a casual "It tickles!"
Similar words are spoken by Shazam while bullets bounce off of him, really bringing home that
this guy is as powerful as the Big Blue Boy Scout.
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