Shazam 2: A reference to Marvel in a DC movie?

In late 2021, Superman was quoted in Marvel’s Phase IV of the Marvel Cinematic Universe by Chloe Zhao. And everything today makes us think that Shazam! The wrath of the gods sends the ball back behind him, into a replica bend, next to a final battle that pits the hero against the goddess Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Calypso (Lucy Liu).

When he lands in the middle of the street, the hero, played by Zachary Levy, finds himself confronted by several passers-by who all call him a different name, unaware that his nickname is simply Shazam. And one of them calls him Captain Marvel, which at first glance might surprise you, because he has a lot in common with Carol Danvers, except for his superhuman strength and ability to fly.

Except it’s not to the Marvel Cinematic Universe… but to Shazam’s past. When he was created in February 1940, thanks to CC Beck and Bill Parker at Fawcett Publications, Billy Batson’s alter ego was indeed called Captain Marvel. And he was the only one until 1953, when declining sales and a lawsuit by DC Comics accusing the publisher of plagiarizing Superman stories sounded the death knell for his adventures. for two decades.

Acquired by DC Comics in 1972, the character is preparing to return to the scene. But Marvel, taking advantage of his absence, acquired the rights to the Captain Marvel name in 1967 to confirm his identity for several successive characters in his universe, from Mar-Vell to Carol Danvers, alongside Monica Rambo or Phila-Vell. .

He was forced to rename his adventures “shazam” On the cover of each publication, the hero still retains the name of Captain Marvel in the pages of DC Comics or in the television series broadcast from 1974-1977. And that was before 2011 and beyond. “Smile”The famous flash adventure that led to a complete reset of the universe, thanks to the consequences of the actions of Barry Allen, who returned to the past to change the past.

Among the many upheavals of the DC Universe, Captain Marvel became Shazam once and for all. But David F. Sandberg’s second feature reminds us that she didn’t always wear that name. And he does it very nicely, because the line is said by someone Michael Gray. Or Billy Batson’s translator in the 70s Shazam series.