The following contains spoilers for Shazam! Fury of the Gods, in theaters now.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is one of the last DC movies created by the regime before James Gunn. After 2023, almost all DC films will fall under his plans' purview, which drastically differ from what was going to come out of the moribund "DC Extended Universe." Despite that, it would seem that one of the darkest parts of these plans is being subtly introduced in the latest adventure of the Shazam Family.
One of the new movie's post-credits scenes features some recognizable DC characters, all while setting up a bunch of new ones to appear in the rebooted DC Universe. It may just be a throwaway joke, but it could definitely end up developing into Gunn's actual plans. Here's how the World's Mightiest Mortal establishes an edgy Wildstorm group.
Shazam! 2 Paves the Way for Wildstorm's The Authority
In the first post-credits scene for Fury of the Gods, Shazam practices his lightning-throwing skills on empty bottles near an abandoned gas station. He's located by Emilia Harcourt and John Economos, who both work for Amanda Waller. These two should be familiar to those who've seen The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker and Black Adam. Their mission is to recruit Billy Batson to the Justice Society, which he immediately confuses with the Justice League. This information disappoints the immature superhero, who wants to work on the same team as Wonder Woman.
Thinking that it's a bad idea for two prominent superhero teams to feature the word "justice" in their names, Billy starts suggesting alternative names for the JSA. One of them is the "Authority Society," which is just one of several bad ideas he comes up with. Nevertheless, DC fans will instantly recognize the moniker "Authority," with The Authority being a major team in the Wildstorm Universe. Far more violent and proactive than the Justice League, this group and its "heroes" will be a part of the DCU going forward.
The DCU's Justice Society Might Morph Into a Much Darker Team
The Authority is one of the upcoming films planned for James Gunn's DCU. Likely maintaining the dark nature of its source material, the movie will contribute to the vast tonal and genre diversity in the new DCU. Even though Gunn is mostly starting fresh, it's very likely that The Authority has some origin in what's currently being done with DC films. After all, 2023's The Flash will not be a complete and total continuity reset, and Gunn's Suicide Squad characters are likely to carry over in some way. That could mean that The Authority in the new continuity has roots in the Justice Society before taking a much darker path.
Such a development would make some sense, as many members of the Wildstorm Universe had ties to their own version of the Golden Age era, the period the JSA originated from. On top of that, the Justice Society in Black Adam was shown as a sort of interloping team that resembled a superhero United Nations in the worst way. Thus, slotting them into the role of almost authoritarian heroes makes a lot of sense, especially if Amanda Waller is involved. Perhaps the biggest reason that the Justice Society might get a name change is that the Black Adam film was something of a disappointment, perhaps leading Gunn and Warner Bros. Discovery to distance future projects from the Justice Society concept.
So, even if most of Fury of the Gods gets wiped out of continuity, its end-credits scene can be jokingly referred back to. Waller can recall how The Authority arose from the ashes of the failed Justice Society before mentioning how the name was given to Harcourt by a superpowered clown with electric abilities. It'd be one way to maintain continuity without being too beholden to it and transition the oldest DC superhero team into the darkest. Shazam might be a lighthearted hero, but the group of metahumans that he recently namedropped certainly are not.
To see how Billy foreshadows Wildstorm's The Authority, Shazam! Fury of the Gods is in theaters now.