Warning: This article contains spoilers for Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
DC’s newest superhero flick, Shazam! Fury of the Gods was not only action-packed but was filled with references and easter eggs for fans to catch if they paid attention. Asides from the DC cameos and mentions of the Justice League, it seems like the film decided to poke fun at its rival, Marvel Studios.
While the DCU and the MCU are two separate universes, the film’s writers, Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan managed to get away with mentioning their competition in a very subtle way. This is a nice nod, especially since it shows that there are no hard feelings towards the two studios and it would be cool for Marvel to pull the same type of joke in their projects.
So in case you’ve missed it, here are some of the Marvel references that were mentioned in Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Captain Marvel
Throughout the first and second films, Shazam has still not yet decided on his official superhero name. In the second film, he’s currently called the “Philly Fiascos” and “Captain EverySuperpower Jr,” and a lot of the names that he tried to come up with didn’t stick.
So during his battle with Kalypso in the middle of the city streets, a bunch of people who first saw him as a nuisance cheered for him to be victorious. But since the hero doesn’t have an official name during the battle, people shouted a bunch of random names, including Captain Marvel, a Marvel hero played by Brie Larson.
However, one could also see this as part of an old DC easter egg since Shazam! in the comics was once originally called Captain Marvel, but had to change the name due to copyright issues with Marvel Comics. So whether this was a Marvel easter egg or a nod toward Shazam!’s past is pretty much up for debate.
The Avengers
During one of the end credits scenes in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Amanda Waller sent Emilia Harcourt and John Economos to look for Shazam! to invite him to join the Justice Society. Shazam! accepts the offer, mistaking it for the Justice League. After realizing this, Shazam offered other suggestions since the Justice League and Justice Society sounded very similar.
Whilst his ideas were ignored, one of the suggestions that were uttered was the ‘Avengers Society,’ a nod to Marvel’s Avengers Initiative. Since it’s very obvious that the DCU isn’t connected to the MCU in any way, shape, or form, Shazam fell in love with the idea, claiming that it sounded very good and that he really liked that idea. Obviously, that suggestion will not be considered, but regardless, Shazam is part of the Justice Society and will have to work his way up if he wants to be part of the Justice League.
It’s quite funny to see DC poking fun at Marvel. As long as these references wouldn’t officially be part of the universe, DC shouldn’t get into legal and copyright trouble with its competitor. After all, it’s just for fun and it’s just the studio using Marvel as a punchline. Hopefully, Marvel has the guts to do the same and poke back at DC, especially since Warner Bros’ next film, The Flash will involve taping into the multiverse.