Shazam’s Other Names
There’s a running joke in Shazam! that Freddy keeps giving his superhero best pal a variety of alter egos to try out. They generally don’t catch on, as Billy finds them embarrassing, but many of them have some kind of importance that you might have missed.
The first time Shazam intervenes when a woman is being mugged, Freddy introduces him as “Thundercrack” – though Billy vetoes the name, as he thinks it sounds like “a butt thing.” This could be a nod to how Captain Marvel was initially conceived as Captain Thunder in the 30s, though.
Later, when Freddy’s trying to show off at school and proclaims that he knows Philadelphia’s caped wonder, his bullies don’t believe that he knows “the Red Cyclone.” This sounds like a cross between two DC heroes: Red Tornado and Cyclone, the original Red Tornado’s granddaughter.
One other recurring nickname is “Captain Sparklefingers.” This is the closest the movie comes to uttering Shazam’s original name, for obvious reasons, but it’s actually more specifically a nod to the Marvel heroine. In the comics, Carol Danvers has been called “Princess Sparklefists.” So we’d like to think this a cross-company reference here.
And it wouldn’t be the only one, either. In the montage of Freddy’s YouTube uploads, we can spot that one video describes the hero as “Zap-tain America,” which must mean that Marvel comics exist in the DCEU, right?
Big, Independence Day And… Annabelle?
Shazam! also tips its hat to a couple of classic 90s movies and one cult horror flick from the last decade.
First up, we’ve heard a lot about how the film was pitched as a mix of Big and Superman: The Movie, so it’s fitting that it pays homage to the Tom Hanks aged-up comedy. One famous scene from that film sees Hanks’ character dancing on an oversized keyboard in a mall and during his first battle with Sivana, Shazam crosses a similar model, resulting in some comedy chase music.
Speaking of Sivana, when he attacks his father’s board room and lets the Seven Deadly Sins loose on them, the office fills with mist. The secretary outside then draws in close to the window when a claw slams at the glass, causing them to scream. This must be a tip of the hat to the famous scene in Independence Day which plays out much the same way.
Finally, none other Annabelle, the creepy doll from The Conjuring movies, makes a cameo in Shazam!, which is actually her second cameo in a DC effort. James Wan created the franchise so dropped her to the bottom of the ocean in Aquaman and given that David F. Sandberg helmed spinoff Annabelle: Creation, he also couldn’t help but feature her on a shelf in the pawn shop where Billy lures the cops at the beginning of the film.