Ah yes! Another franchise superhero movie, which means more teases for possible future installments. It’s easily one of the MCU’s most indelible gifts to blockbuster cinema. Shazam! Fury of the Gods is the latest DC Comics movie, and that means new post-credits scenes to dissect. The interesting thing about this one is its unclear connection to any future DCU movies once the DCEU officially fades away like a polaroid in the sun. If you don’t want the ending to be spoiled for you, leave now. Otherwise, hop down to spoiler city!
For a movie with unclear future canonicity, Shazam! Fury of the Gods definitely doesn’t skimp on the connective tissue. The scene of Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) appearing toward the end of the movie already appeared in ads, but that’s by no means the only DCEU bit you’ll find.
The mid-credits scene opens on two familiar faces. Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and John Economos (Steve Agee) of Team Peacemaker. They walk through what looks like an old forest or something and talk about going to recruit someone and not wanting to spook them. Economos complains about wearing new boots that make his feet hurt.
Eventually they come upon Shazam (Zachary Levi) using his lightning powers to zap empty bottles at an abandoned gas station. Harcourt says she knows he’s Billy Batson and they know everything else about him. They want to know if he’s interested in joining the Justice—. Before she can finish, Shazam says “yes, yes, a thousand times yes” and gets way too amped about working with Wonder Woman. Unfortunately for Billy, they weren’t going to offer him a spot in the Justice League, but rather the Justice Society. Shazam then gets his phone and looks up other words besides “Justice” to avoid confusing. One of those being “Avengers Society,” which makes no sense, but is a funny joke.
If you were unfortunate enough to have seen Black Adam, you know that the Justice Society featured prominently. Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) somehow became the handler for the JSA and that continues here. Now, we certainly have no idea if that thread will continue in any future films or shows. James Gunn announced a Waller series in the works, which will of course feature Harcourt and Economos. But will they handle JSA stuff? Who can say?
As for the post-credits scene…well, it’s not much of anything. It’s more a continuation of the bit from the post-credits scene from the first Shazam! Doctor Sivana (Mark Strong) still sits in prison with the tiny caterpillar-like Mister Mind there with him. Sivana complains that it’s been two years and still nothing, and Mister Mind says he’s little and it takes him a while to get places. That’s it.
Surely this was merely because they decided not to continue the tease from the first movie into the second film’s main story. And it’s always nice to see Mark Strong, even in such a brief appearance. But this really didn’t feel like much of anything, especially considering the already shaky standing the Shazam characters have in the future of the DCU.
Will Shazam join the proper Justice Society? Will Doctor Sivana and Mister Mind ever leave the prison? Only time (and box office returns) will tell.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.
