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With the release of Shazam!, Warner Bros. has another superhero hit on its hands, further proving that you don’t have to make your movie part of the MCU to have a good time. But while the movie’s ending is pretty straightforward, there are enough head-scratching and surprising moments in the movie’s latter third that might be in need of some explanation. Don’t sweat it! That’s why we’re here. Let’s say the magic words — spoilers ahead! — and explain the ending of Shazam!
If you’re not a longtime comic book reader, you may have scratched your head at some of the superhero names Billy and Freddie came up with over the course of the film. From Thundercrack to the Red Cyclone, none of them seemed to stick. By the end of the film, the big dude in red played by Zachary Levi never seemed to actually get the kind of codename that gets attached to other superheroes. You’d think after so many attempts at getting him a codename, he’d do better than “Shazam,” a name he can never say without losing his powers in a bolt of lightning.
So what’s the deal? The short version is that the superhero we meet in Shazam! didn’t always go by this name…in fact, he used to go by Captain Marvel, back when he first debuted in 1939.
But years later, while Captain Marvel comics weren’t being published, Timely Comics changed its name to the more familiar Marvel Comics we all know and love. After Marvel created its own Captain Marvel character in 1967, DC and Marvel Comics had to come to an agreement about how to navigate the tricky trademarks. Eventually, in 2011 DC just gave up “Captain Marvel” entirely, and simply renamed the character “Shazam.” So if you were wondering why he never settled on the pretty good name of “Captain Sparklefingers,” well, now you know why.
Watch the video for more about The Ending Of Shazam! Explained!
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