Panel Vision - 9 Possible Characters for Shazam 2

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Judging by its sizable opening I’m assuming by now most folks have seen the infectiously enjoyable Shazam.  This movie has turned into a real slam dunk for the haggard DC Entertainment and seems to mark a turning point where their movies go from polarizing dregs like Suicide Squad and Dawn of Justice to a new era of popular if disconnected hits like Aquaman and Shazam.  

In any event, WB seems to have faith in this as they’ve already re-upped the creative team behind Shazam to begin work on a sequel, which means I get to start speculating on who we might see in said sequel.  I’m not going to address the very obvious appearances in the sequel set-up by Shazam’s post-credits scene but there are still a number of characters from the Shazam mythos and beyond that, I think we can expect to see in whatever adventures are next in store for Shazam and his marvelous family.

 

Panel Vision - Shazam! Easter Eggs Explained

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So, Shazam is upon us and, for a change of pace, DC’s new blockbuster seems to be doing really well.  That’s not a huge shake-up to be fair as Aquaman and Wonder Woman both found a major audience and received overall positive reviews, it largely just feels like Shazam’s place as the third success under DC’s belt has finally marked the company exiting the shadows and making good movies for a change.  A big part of that change has been a shift in approach to the idea of continuity.  

Previously DC films were all about crafting a meticulous extended universe of inter-connected plot points and characters.  More recently that particular wrinkle has taken a serious backseat to things like good characters and fun action, which is absolutely for the best.  However, it’s not as if the DC films are completely devoid of Easter Eggs, shocking cameos, or post-credit scene teases and Shazam was no exception.  As such, I’ve put together this list of 5 shocking appearances in Shazam. 

Tala Ashe to play Isis on Legends of Tomorrow S3

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Of all the CW superheroes shows I’d count Legends of Tomorrow as one of the most impressive through its dedication to keeping a rotating cast from season-to-season.  It’s a bold approach but one that has worked well for the show as it’s turned in two very enjoyable seasons.  I’d actually count it as the best Star Trek show on the air right now, though we’ll see how Discovery turns out later this year.  Season 3’s upcoming cast rotation sees Rip Hunter exiting the main character ranks for a more antagonistic role while Citizen Steel and Vixen will be returning to the crew of the Waverider.   The newest member of the team comes to us from a relatively new direction for the series- the world of magic, although the ties to Ancient Egypt put her at least in tune with Hawkman and Hawkgirl from back in season 1.  The latest Legend to join the team is Isis- to be played by Tala Ashe. 

Panel Vision - Great Ten

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As the 21^st century prepares to exit its adolescence and enter its quarter-life crisis period, the idea that this will be the Chinese century seems more and more assured.  Chinese tastes and interests have grown into a major box office force for American blockbusters, Chinese industrialism drives a lot of the global economy, they’re the only people with the billions to dictate commands to the likes of Apple or Google, and recently they’ve established themselves at the forefront of the Green Energy push. 

This means that everybody has to adjust, hence why we see a larger Chinese presence in US blockbusters like Transformers 4 or Iron Man 3.  Comics are usually slow to adapt to these kinds of trends save for one exception at DC comics, who got on board the China train as early as 2006- 2 years before their coming out party to the world stage that was the Beijing Olympics.  They did it with a new prestige team of superheroes meant to embody various aspects of Chinese culture known as the Great Ten.

Panel Vision - DC Comic Pasts

So, Legends of Tomorrow is on the way and a big part of this show is going to be time travel.  How much time travel is involved is still a little unclear but we at least know a good chunk of the show will take place in the ‘70s and that Jonah Hex, a cowboy hero from America’s old west (1870-1880s) will play a role in the story.  Those are both pretty great ideas and they’ve got me thinking about the history of the DC Universe.  One of the weird things about comic book universes is that because of how much unregulated weirdness was popping around comics for so long they end up with super weird visions of history.

 Sometimes this is due to the mandate of setting, like how all of DC’s cowboy adventures had to happen in the old west even if they involved guys like El Diablo, a bank teller who was possessed by a spirit of vengeance.  Other times it’s the result of time travel nonsense or just the fact that some characters and places have just always existed.  As such I’m looking back at some of the craziest and most interesting points in DC Comics’ history, let’s dive in.