Shazam! Fury Of The Gods has flown its way into theaters. The new DC film catches up with the adopted family as they now live life as teenagers who act as superheroes in their spare time. Last we saw them, they all had superpowers when they said the magic word Shazam! A new threat has shown up to try and disrupt their happy home. The film is absolutely jam-packed with Shazam easter eggs and references to other superhero properties and even some horror films. What did you miss?
WARNING!!!! There will be spoilers for Shazam! and Shazam! Fury Of The Gods!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The creepy doll from The Conjuring universe has once again made an appearance in a DC movie. This marks her third appearance as she appeared in the first Shazam! and Aquaman. When we find out that Shazam is using his pediatrician as a therapist, the doctor points out that he deals with kids. He then points to a play area in his office. Annabelle sits at the small table. Next to her in the film (it’s digitally changed to a Wonder Woman doll in the trailer) is a Raggedy Ann doll, the actual type of doll Annabelle is in real life. Supposedly.
Director David Sandberg is a big horror fan, he directed the 2017’s Annabelle Creation hence her cameo, and he included the names of some legendary Italian horror directors. Shazam’s pediatrician is revealed to be named Dario Bava after Dario Argento and Mario Bava. Later during a battle in the city, just behind Shazam, we see a building with a sign on it that says Fulci. This is a reference to Lucio Fulci.
We have a Starro sighting! The letter S shows a picture of the legendary space starfish on the alphabet board above the table that Annabelle is sitting at. It was the main villain in the James Gunn-directed The Suicide Squad. Starro is a giant-sized creature that can shoot out little versions of itself. If one of them attaches to a person’s face, Starro can control them with its mind.
In the comics, a talking tiger named Tawking Tawny would constantly help out Shazam and his super-powered family on occasion. In the first film, there was some tiger imagery that was a reference to the character, but he actually gets name-dropped in this film. In an early scene, the family is saving citizens as a bridge starts to collapse. Darla rescues a basket of kittens and then their owners. She is carrying the orange cat when she returns home in her child form. Later she refers to it as Tawny before deciding she has to return it to the owners.
Shazam talks again about meeting the wizard that gave him his powers. He says that he doesn’t even know his superhero name. This is sort of a meta-joke, as in the comics, his name was Captain Marvel. When the character went out of print due to a copyright issue between DC Comics and Fawcett Comics. Marvel later came up with a character named Captain Marvel and trademarked the use of the name. When the Fawcett comics character was licensed and later purchased by DC Comics, they decided to use the magic word he uttered to transform as his name. This led to confusion as to whether the character was still called Captain Marvel or was now called Shazam. This is such an obscure Shazam easter egg that some movie goers may not even know it exists.
Freddie Freeman tries to do some solo hero work but keeps getting told no by Billy as they all agreed that they all had to go out as heroes or none of them could. Freddie does adopt the name Captain Every Power for his superhero persona. When he saves a group of pedestrians, he tells them that Shazam is his sidekick. He says that his name is Captain Every Power Jr. When Shazam gave his friends superpowers in the comics, Freddie was dubbed Captain Marvel Jr. and acted as his sidekick.
This strange artifact briefly appeared in the first film but ended up with a more significant role in the sequel. The superhero family has made the Rock Of Eternity their home base. Shazam points out that he still doesn’t know what the burning violin does. Later he uses it as a distraction to help fight the Daughters Of Atlas. In the comics, the burning violin is known as Nero’s Fiddle. It came from a 1946 story titled “Cult Of The Curse Part 4: Flames Of The Magic Fiddle.”
Towards the end of the film, the citizens of the city give Shazam a quick pep talk as he goes to fight the Daughters Of Atlas. A particular person is wearing a red shirt with a yellow collar. This actor is Michael Gray. He played Billy Batson in the 1970s live-action series Shazam! TV series. During this interaction, he even calls him by the name Captain Marvel. This is such a fun Shazam Easter Egg that honors the series that came before.
The characters of Harcourt and Economos show up in the first post-credits scene. They are part of Task Force X, which is commonly known as The Suicide Squad. Both characters appeared in the James Gunn-directed movie and later played significant roles in the Peacemaker HBOMax series. We last saw Harcourt in Black Adam working with Amanda Waller. They are on their way to find Shazam to make him a big offer.
As Harcourt and Economos approach Shazam, and we see that he is at an abandoned gas station in the country practicing shooting his lightning bolts at some glass bottles. They then offer him a spot on the super team, The Justice . . . before they can finish, he accepts, thinking that he is about to join The Justice League. Harcourt finishes and says it’s the Justice Society. Shazam comments that the names seem too close together. One suggestion he throws out is the Avengers Society. Shazam has been a member of both The Justice Society and The Justice League in the past.
What Shazam! Easter Eggs did you see? Let us know in the comments.