Warning: This article contains spoilers for Shazam: Fury of the Gods.
In our world of endless comic book franchises, post-credit scenes have taken on something of an oversized role in their importance to the fandom. Previously, there have been plenty of great ones too, being both a fun way to end films while also revealing lots of important information for fans patient enough to wait right up until the theater lights come on.
Now, there are many fans who are taking this line of thought when it comes to the recent easter eggs that appear at the very end of Shazam! Fury of the Gods. The Zachary Levi film isn’t exactly tearing it up when it comes to box office numbers, and its critical reception isn’t faring much better, which is unsurprising given the controversy around its star and the slow, sad death of this version of the DCEU. As a result, fans of the character have been latching onto anything that shows it might have a shot at continuing in James Gunn’s new reboot, most notably in Peacemaker — even if their wishes are bordering on delusional, as shown by this post to the DC_Cinematic subreddit.
There are two post-credit scenes in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, both of which might give hope to users who’ve posted things like the above. The second, and less confusing of the two, sees the villain from the first movie (Dr Sivana, portrayed wonderfully by Mark Strong) still imprisoned as a result of his actions in the 2019 film, now complete with the sort of bushy facial hair that incarceration gives you the time to cultivate. He’s seen talking to Mister Mind, who made him a promise that they would “rule the seven realms,” so real villain stuff, and an intriguing teaser. Of course, after two years of captivity, Siviana is incredibly annoyed he hasn’t been freed, which Mister Mind apologises for, before claiming he’s still working on getting him out. Mister Mind then slowly moves out of the shot, telling Siviana that he just needs to do “one more thing” before he can finally free the doctor from his imprisonment. Siviana, ever the optimist, ends the scene with a pretty reasonable shout of “goddamit!”
This, of course, is effectively setting up the third Shazam movie, which is highly unlikely to appear any time soon. Gunn has announced his projects for the newest phase of the DC universe, subtitled Gods and Monsters, and the boy who can turn into an adult wizard is not involved at all, having been cut alongside many other favorites. This scene would have been shot before Gunn was announced as the new head of the DCU, and perhaps if the second Shazam film was raking in the cash, he might have been convinced to make a third. As it is, Gunn seems focused on his vision as opposed to dragging old DCEU content into his new phase – something commenters on the Reddit post were keen to point out.
The other post-credits scene is definitely worthy of a little more discussion, though — especially as it involves some famous characters that we know Gunn has used heavily in his other work in the franchise. In this snapshot, Shazam runs into Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and her assistant John Economos (Steve Agee), both of whom have worked with ARGUS. The two agents have both appeared in much of Gunn’s previous work in the DCU, with roles in Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. At the behest of Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), the pair ask Shazam if he’d like to join the Justice Society, to which the wizard enthusiastically agrees. However, in a bit of comic relief, Shazam then realizes that he has joined the Justice Society, not Justice League, as he wished. A suitably down moment for the end of a movie that’s been a bit of a flop.
The reason these cameos are so interesting is because they now connect the Shazam universe to the Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, and Black Adam worlds, at least two of which Gunn appears keen to further explore. Add in the fact that Waller has been confirmed to be a part of the new DCU, and it’s hard not to see a link between the old universe and Gunn’s new reboot, which is something most people thought wouldn’t happen. Also, let’s not forget that Peacemaker has had cameos from Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Ezra Miller’s Flash (although, much like Levi, Miller isn’t exactly in best shape at the moment, although there have been noises Gunn is seeking to keep him in the role of the Flash), as well as the heavy implication that Superman and Wonder Woman were part of the Peacemaker universe thanks to their shadows appearing. Then there’s Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman appearing in the second Shazam film, completing the slightly confusing soup of potential cameos and crossovers between the old DCU phase and Gunn’s newer one.
The thing is, Gunn would have surely had some say in these post-credit scenes, purely because of the way they implicate his universe. And it’s not like there wasn’t time for him to change them. Plus, David Safran, who’s working with Gunn on the newest DCU phase, produced both of the Shazam films. So, the idea that there will be links between old and new suddenly doesn’t seem so farfetched. Maybe that Reddit user wasn’t just an optimist, but on to something.
With that all said, most fans have resigned themselves to the fact that Shazam is dead in the water for now. Even these scenes have been the subjects of many jokes online, especially in the usually savage battleground of comic book Twitter.
So, if you’re one of those people who is hoping the Shazam! Fury of the Gods post-credits scene is a sign of things to come, you might be waiting for a long time. However, given the hype around Gunn’s reboot, and the fact so much is still up in the air, we might be seeing Levi return in some capacity in the coming years, possibly with John Cena in the highly rated series. The only way to find out is to watch.