Warning: SPOILERS for Shazam!
The Shazam! movie doe a great job of setting up Shazam 2, but one of the movie's throwaway jokes may actually become massively important for the future of the DCEU reality. It's time to learn about the Crocodile Men, people.
The animal cameo may seem like just another magical gag, considering how many Easter Eggs there are in Shazam! tailored specifically for the comic book fans. Even for casual fans, the image of not one but three human-crocodile hybrids living through a magical doorway captures the spirit of Billy Batson's story. But in the current world of DC Comics, the Crocodile Men are part of a much larger story and mythology. One that DC legend Geoff Johns is using to change everything fans know about the DC Comics Universe.
So as funny as the arrival of the Crocodile Men into the DCEU may be, audiences are definitely not prepared for what they suggest about Shazam 2. In hindsight, these creatures may prove to be a massive SPOILER for Shazam 2 and the future DC movie multiverse.
- This Page: Who Are Shazam's Crocodile Men, Anyway?
- Page 2: How The Crocodile Men Just Changed The DCEU
Shazam's Crocodile Men Aren't Just an Easter Egg
Since it's the explanation that will most often be given for the presence of crocodiles in anthropomorphized bodies, dressed in suits and ties, all playing a game of poker in a private gaming room, we should also confirm: the existence of "Crocodile Men" is a nod to the classic Captain Marvel comic books. At least, the existence of a Crocodile Man, the (admittedly un-inventive) moniker given to the old foe of Billy Batson.
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Modern DC Comics have played on the classic trope, introducing the infamous Sobek as a crocodile-like creature to the Black Adam side of the Shazam mythology (given his Egypt-inspired origins, his nature as a Horseman of the Apocalypse wasn't even all that strange at the time). But originally, the Crocodile Men were introduced as aliens from the planet "Punkus," and while some were more lasting than others (and not every one of them got their own name), they largely served the role of henchmen in Mr. Mind's evil super-team, The Monster Society of Evil.
What The Crocodile Men Tell Us About Shazam 2
While informative, that's not likely to be the path followed in Shazam 2. The first movie gets its DNA from the New 52 reboot of the Shazam Family, which gave no larger a tease of Mr. Mind and Dr. Sivana working together than is given in the first mid-credits scene of Shazam! But now that Geoff Johns has finally continued his story in a currently ongoing sequel series of his own, the true meaning of the Crocodile Men has expanded from its original incarnations. They aren't mere henchmen, they aren't demonic horseman of the apocalypse, and they definitely aren't aliens from a distant planet.
In fact, the idea of crocodiles walking on two feat, wearing human clothes, and gambling over cards is nothing new at all where they come from. In that world, animals live and work just as people do, without much concern for Superman or the Justice League of Earth. If the next Shazam movie explores it as much as we expect, the entire reality of the DC Movie Universe is going to get a lot more... Wild.
Page 2 of 2: The Crocodile Men Tease THE WILDLANDS For Shazam 2
Crocodile Men Confirm The Wildlands in The DCEU
At first glance, there's a good chance that most viewers will assume that the collection of doors stumbled upon in The Rock of Eternity are merely portals through space (using the same magical transportation that brings all potential champions before the Wizard). Or, recalling how the Wizard explained his efforts to round up magic from the outside world, the doors may be viewed as prison cells, or spaces meant to confine magical beings from unsuspecting mortals--like Muggles in the Harry Potter universe.
But the truth is far more exciting, and far grander, as Billy and the rest of the kids-turned adult heroes of The Shazam Family have learned in their comic book adventures. They have learned that the world of superheroes and humans of the DC Universe, the "normal Earth" itself, is just one of Seven magical Realms coexisting behind a mystical curtain. And the Crocodile Men? They likely confirmed the same is true in the movie universe.
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The Earthlands may seem all-important to those who inhabit them, but Billy and the rest of his foster siblings soon learn that The Magiclands they are charged with protecting go far beyond our mundane planet. Previously, Geoff Johns had re-imagined the classic Captain Marvel character Tawny the "Talky" Tiger as an actual tiger. But in the new comics, the true Mr. Tawny has arrived: a walking, talking, suit-wearing tiger living in a world where Crocodiles doing the same is the norm. Because in The Wildlands, it's the animals who got "civilized."
The Seven Magic Realms May Be Coming...
This may all seem like a great deal to spin out of the appearance of three Crocodile Men--all played by director David F. Sandberg--but there isn't much ambiguity about the mythology they show at work. And considering how much of Geoff Johns' modern reboot of Shazam and the surrounding fiction the movie adapts completely faithfully, there's no reason to think that this would be the exception. Johns took the idea of Shazam, and crafted a new explanation, earning accolades. Johns took the idea of the supervillain Black Adam, and creating a new origin story, warning accolades. And Johns took the idea of walking, talking, magical creatures, and created Seven Magical Realms to explain them. Why wouldn't a sequel make good on this tease?
Fans may want to restrict their expectations somewhat, since the comic book acting as a sequel to the Shazam relaunch inflates the scale and spectacle faster than a sequel budget would allow (even if Shazam! had set box office records). So there may be some waiting until The Gamelands, The Funlands, or even The Wildlands in all their glorious animal splendor are revealed in the DCEU. But the first step in going to the other magical realms the Justice League's never even heard of is confirming they exist.
By including the Crocodile Men as Shazam! director David F. Sandberg does, the movie does just that. Which will prepare fans of every DC movie to have their minds blown if Shazam 2 becomes a reality.