Warning! Contains spoilers for Shazam! Fury of the Gods: Shazamily Matters #1’s ahead!A comic tying into Shazam’s upcoming sequel has finally given fans a story they may never see in the DCEU. What was once a brief Easter egg in Shazam! becomes a story hardcore fans of the Big Red Cheese can certainly appreciate.
The 2019 film Shazam! was Billy Batson’s first feature-length movie and served as his and his family’s introduction into the DC Extended Universe. Towards the end of the film, Billy and his siblings are being pursued by Doctor Sivana searching for a way to evade him. They begin searching through every door on the Rock of Eternity, one of which is a portal to a realm of anthropomorphic crocodile men. The moment largely serves as an Easter egg that references the classic villain Herkimer, a member of Mister Mind’s Monster Society of Evil. While it made for a funny gag, it leaves fans wondering what else could have been done with the crocs.
Shazam!’s Director Brings The Crocodile Men Back
As it turns out, there was more to explore with the Crocodile Men, and a tie-in to the new Shazam! movie has provided that story. Shazam! Fury of the Gods: Shazamily Matters #1’s story “Crocodile Catastrophe” by David F. Sandberg and Scott Kolins sees Billy Batson’s family playing a game of tag on the Rock of Eternity. However, the kids don’t realize that their disturbance of the Crocodile Men’s world has made them aware of a new realm to conquer. The crocs, led by their priestess, Madame Cay, invade the Rock of Eternity with magical artifacts. The crocodile people get the upper hand when they use magic to devolve the heroes into beasts. But the ghostly presence of the Wizard ends things by tricking Madame Cay into raising her own intelligence, making her realize peace between the realms is the smartest solution.
The story elevates a gag about Shazam’s lore into a full-fledged sequel. And it’s made even better knowing the idea for the story actually comes from the director of the Shazam! films, David F. Sandberg. Fans may have wondered why such an intriguing story wasn’t able to make the leap to an actual DCEU movie. But with time running out on the DC Extended Universe, a tie-in comic was probably the only way the Crocodile Men story could actually be told.
Comics Can Continue Shazam’s DCEU Mythology
The DCEU is coming to a close, and chances are that this particular version of the Shazam Family is going with it. But if the director of Shazam! can use comics to tell a canon story that the films will never get a chance to, then other aspects of DCEU may live on in printed form as well. After all the first movie ended with Doctor Sivana teaming up with the nefarious Mister Mind. If the Crocodile Men’s story can find new life, then nothing may truly be off the table. Fans can read the DCEU story for themselves in Shazam! Fury of the Gods: Shazamily Matters #1, on sale now.