Warning: This article contains spoilers for Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Shazam! Fury of the Gods comes at a weird time for the DC universe, as it’s the final outing for the original DCEU before The Flash arrives this summer to reboot continuity and pave the way for James Gunn’s shiny new DCU to emerge in 2025. Director David F. Sandberg has made clear that he wanted the sequel to be as self-contained as possible, then, in order to avoid overcomplicating it. However, this being the irreverent Shazam franchise, it still finds time to poke fun at the Justice League.
Akin to a more family-friendly version of Marvel’s Deadpool, Zachary Levi’s Shazam acts as a goofier, more ramshackle counterpart to the mythical members of the Justice League, characters who might not necessarily appear in the movie (although one of them certainly does) but whose presence in this world is keenly felt through everything from on-the-nose namedrops to easily overlooked set dressing.
In case you missed some of them after catching Shazam 2 in cinemas (or maybe you were one of the many that didn’t bother going), here’s every single Justice League reference in Fury of the Gods.
Billy’s Imposter Syndrome
The first time we see Billy Batson (Levi) in Fury of the Gods he’s unloading on his therapist (really, a pediatrician) about his Imposter Syndrome. The aged-up hero negatively compares him to a trio of members of the Justice League. For starters, Billy notes how there’s even already another superhero who wears a red costume with a lightning bolt on his chest who’s probably faster than him. This is obviously a nod to the Flash.
Billy goes on to specifically namedrop two more Leaguers, noting how “huge” and “manly” Aquaman is while gushing over how Batman is “so cool.”
The shadow of Superman
In spite of those immediate references to three other heroes, Superman himself is rarely referenced in Fury of the Gods, which feels like a slight dig at Henry Cavill’s no-show in the first film’s final scene. Speaking of, Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer) impresses crush Anthea (Rachel Zegler) by mentioning the time he had lunch with some superheroes in the school cafeteria.
Also, Bonnie Tyler’s legendary “Holding Out for a Hero” plays during the Shazamily’s bridge rescue set piece, a song that of course features the line “It’s gonna take a Superman to sweep me off my feet.” Considering that song released in 1984 and Superman didn’t emerge until the 2010s in this continuity, that presents an interesting conundrum.
The Boys aren’t the only supes that sell out
The titular heroes from The Boys are famous for selling out, but the Shazam movies have always made clear that the Justice League aren’t above cashing in on their images too. A ton of Justice League-related merch is scattered throughout the sequel, including stuffed toys (of Wonder Woman, Flash, and more) in the pediatrician’s office to a Batman mug and other memorabilia at the Shazam’s lair in the Rock of Eternity.
Interestingly, Freddy wears a Batman and Robin themed t-shirt during the film, which may be an indication that Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight has got himself a new sidekick since we saw him last. Otherwise, that means someone’s making tees based on the Boy Wonder who was brutally murdered by the Joker…
Wonder Woman’s secret identity
When arguing with Mary (Grace Caroline Currey) over the need to have a regular life alongside their superheroing, Billy uses Wonder Woman to make his point. “Wonder Woman doesn’t have a job,” he claims. “Do you think she wears a ponytail and glasses and nobody recognizes her and she’s like an accountant or something?”
Apart from the accountant thing (she really works at the Louvre), Billy’s unknowingly stumbled on the truth here. As well as sending up the Amazon’s traditional alter ego, made famous by Lynda Carter in the ’70s Wonder Woman series, this is also following up on a joke from 2017’s Wonder Woman in which Etta Candy remarked that Diana wearing a pair of glasses and dowdier clothes was a poor disguise.
The Wizard’s Batman voice
Batman gets another namecheck once Freddy is kidnapped by the Daughters of Atlas and is imprisoned alongside the Wizard (Djimon Hounsou). Upon meeting the ancient sorcerer, Freddy deduces his identity due to a few descriptors he’s previously been informed about by Billy, including the Wizard’s “Batman voice.” Hounsou has played a heck of a lot of superhero roles, but to date he’s yet to portray the Dark Knight.
Dreaming of Diana
Fury of the Gods one-ups the headless Superman cameo from the origins film with Billy’s dream sequence, in which he imagines being on a Parisian date with Wonder Woman. We never see Diana’s face throughout this whole sequence (not surprising, considering Taylor Cahill acted as Gal Gadot’s body double for this scene), with the Wizard even hilariously grafting his face onto Diana’s body when he invades Billy’s subconscious.
The Last of the Old Gods
The brilliant thing about the headless Wonder Woman cameo is that it prefaces an actual Wonder Woman cameo at the movie’s end. If this wasn’t foolishly spoiled in the marketing, much to David Sandberg’s chagrin, this would have been a perfect rug-pull moment.
In addition, Gal Gadot’s cameo confirms a major bit of DC lore. When Diana comes to resurrect the realm of the Greek pantheon of deities, it’s revealed she is the last of the Old Gods still left standing (suggesting other gods may have died since Ares’ defeat in Wonder Woman).
An invitation for Justice
Fury of the Gods manages to squeeze in even more Justice League tie-ins into its mid-credits scene. John Economos (Steve Agee) and Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) return in an attempt to recruit Shazam into Amanda Waller’s Justice Society (as introduced in Black Adam). Billy immediately accepts, thinking he’s going to be teammates with Wonder Woman, before he learns the Justice Society and Justice League are totally unrelated teams. He goes on to pitch alternate names for the JSA, including the Authority Society (a nod to James Gunn’s upcoming The Authority movie) and Avengers Society (in the most obvious of many Marvel references in this movie).
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is playing in theaters now.