The first trailer for Shazam! Fury of the Gods was revealed at SDCC. It featured the Shazam family battling ancient threats, coping with existential challenges and dealing with a dragon. It also included direct references to the Justice League, with Billy Batson comparing himself to Batman, Aquaman and The Flash. However, the trailer also featured hard-to-spot references to a much more adult-oriented DCEU film: James Gunn's The Suicide Squad.
The references come at the 0:54-mark, in which Billy Batson (in his Shazam form) visits a health-care professional for advice on his superhero life. The doctor reminds him he is a pediatrician, after which he points at his child-friendly set-up — an area filled with kids' toys and cartoon characters.
The shot (via Comicbook.com) has plenty of Easter eggs, including Batman and Wonder Woman plushies and even an appearance from Annabelle, the possessed doll from the Conjuring franchise and Shazam! director David F. Sandberg's Annabelle: Creation. However, looking deeper, the doctor's wall features the alphabet, with every letter represented by an animal. The "S" is represented by (a very friendly looking) Starro, who was one of the main antagonists in The Suicide Squad:
It's odd to know a pediatrician uses a homicidal starfish as a learning example for young patients, even if the DCEU is full of colorful and eye-catching threats.
The second reference comes in that same shot, with a Starro drawing on the blackboard on the far right:
The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker Director James Gunn confirmed this second nod on Twitter, sharing the post from the fan who pointed it out. The director captioned his post with: "It's a great series to have an Easter egg in."
A Tighter Continuity for the DCEU
The DCEU's continuity has been in flux for some time. The series has featured quite a few continuity inconsistencies throughout its installments — Batman v Superman established that Wonder Woman lived among humanity in secret since the '40s, yet Wonder Woman 1984 showed her very publicly saving the world; Batman v Superman showed Victor Stone already having his powers for Justice League to establish he had become Cyborg after Clark Kent's death; Justice League depicted Arthur Curry being familiar with Atlantis — even going to Mera for his armor — before Aquaman established he had basically no communication with the underwater kingdom until that film; etc.
These examples, paired with Matt Reeves' The Batman being set in its own world, made it seem like DCEU's shared-universe model would be forgotten eventually. Yet, more recent installments seemed to show the franchise going back to a more cohesive storytelling structure, hinted at by Shazam! having an appearance from Henry Cavill's Superman (despite it being a faceless cameo), The Suicide Squad not contradicting Birds of Prey, and Peacemaker featuring the Justice League from the 2017 film.
Shazam! Fury of the God's Starro Easter eggs, while small and lighthearted, seem to point to the events of The Suicide Squad having an impact in the larger DCEU. While they were likely simple, fun references (Annabelle is also in that shot, after all), it's fun to see nods to other projects in the franchise.
Viola Davis was confirmed to appear in Black Adam as Amanda Waller during SDCC 2022, reprising her role from Suicide Squad, The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. With that, and The Suicide Squad Easter eggs in Fury of the Gods, there seems to be hope for the DCEU being a more cohesive universe akin to the MCU.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods flies into theaters on December 21, 2022.