Shazam! Fury Of The Gods Ending Explained
After bringing the DCEU a refreshing, lighthearted hit, Shazam and the rest of his super-powered family return for a second adventure with "Shazam! Fury of the Gods."
Now saving the day alongside his family, Billy Batson (Asher Angel/Zachary Levi) faces some personal dilemmas that only become more complicated by the arrival of new foes, largely created by his own careless actions at the end of the first film. While struggling to keep his family focused on improving their public image and dealing with the reality of aging out of the foster system, Billy must also fight against the daughters of Atlas: including Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu). Seeking revenge for their father's death, Billy and his family must work together to stop their plans.
Shazam's return to the big screen carries over the delightful charms and light-hearted heroics of the first film; Billy and his family are just as heartfelt and hilarious, and these new enemies push their family dynamic to its limits. With the daughters of Atlas wielding a staff that can drain the Shazam family of their powers, every encounter could be the end of Billy's time as a hero.
The finale of "Fury of the Gods'" is packed with standout moments (and eye-popping end credits moments) that add to Shazam's arc as a hero and seemingly indicate his direction forward. Below, a (spoiler-heavy) breakdown of the final, super-charged moments of "Fury of the Gods."
Mythical monsters
One secret revealed early in the film is that Rachel Ziegler's Anthea is not in fact a cute, harmless teenage girl interested in the affections of Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), but in fact a third daughter of Atlas. While Kalypso works alongside her sisters for much of "Fury of the Gods," she goes on her own to pursue the golden apple after it's stolen by Freddy, eager to set their plans of revenge in motion.
When Mary (Grace Caroline Currey) attempts to fly away with it, Kalypso chases after her on a dragon and eventually drains Mary of her power mid-air. Billy is then forced to choose between grabbing the apple or Mary as both tumble towards the ground. He chooses Mary, leading to Kalypso's retrieval of the apple and a planting of it at Citizens Bank Park, where the Philadelphia Phillies play. The apple gives rise to the Tree of Life, which subsequently sprouts, spreads roots far and wide, and bears some awful fruit.
Small cocoons begin giving birth to various mythological creatures, from cyclops and minotaurs to harpies and manticores; they soon begin roaming the streets and attacking citizens. The unsettling nature and looks of these creatures fits with director David F. Sandberg's horror background ("Lights Out," "Annabelle: Creation"). Kalypso's revenge plans swing into full force.
A god-like betrayal
After Kalypso plants the apple and the Tree unleashes pure chaos onto humanity, Anthea and Hespera start to have second thoughts regarding their revenge plans. Anthea and Hespera were simply determined to rebuild the Realm of the Gods, diminished when The Wizard (Djimon Hounsou) stripped the Gods of their powers. But seeing the Tree of Life ravaging Earth has them pleading with Kalypso to stop this madness. Unfortunately for them, Kalypso isn't interested in bargaining, and now sees her sisters as disposable.
As Hespera and Anthea confront Kalypso, Hespera is stabbed through the back by Kalypso's dragon leaving Anthea on her own. Shortly after Hespera is lying on the ground nearly dead, Kalypso points the staff at Anthea to drain her of her powers. She mentions that since Anthea liked being among humans so much that she should become one; although Anthea tries to use her powers to escape the staff's wrath, it doesn't work. Kalypso now stands alone, and the once-seemingly-united daughters of Atlas have been decimated by betrayal as one villain emerges.
Chosen for a reason
With everyone relieved of their powers except for Billy, and horrific monsters running through the streets of Philadelphia, things seem pretty hopeless. Kalypso has proven herself to be quite powerful, Billy is scared, and he tells The Wizard to take his powers back. At this moment, Billy feels like he was the wrong choice to be The Wizard's champion, and that he can't do justice to the powers that make up Shazam. But The Wizard tells Billy that his choice was not by accident.
The Wizard knows that Billy's heart is pure, and although he has made some mistakes, he is the right fit to be the Champion. When Billy gave powers to his family to turn them into Champions, he showed that anyone can be a hero if given the opportunity. This, coupled with a heartfelt moment between Billy and his mom Rosa (Marta Milans) as they discuss his fears of "aging out" of the foster family fill the scene with emotion. It gives Billy the strength to face Kalypso and form a plan to take the staff back to stop her reign of terror. It even inspires the rest of his family to take action, even rendered powerless.
King of the beasts
Philadelphia is completely overrun with mythical monsters by the time that Billy's siblings arrive, and with them having no powers it doesn't seem like there's much they can do. But once the group asks their sentient pen "Steve" how they can stop these monsters, he points them in the direction of the "King of the Beasts." Believe it or not, the so-called "king" is the unicorn — which makes Darla (Faithe Herman/Meagan Good) absolutely giddy with cheer.
The group then attempts to find unicorns in a dark cavern; they aren't brightly colored magical creatures bursting with happiness and rainbows, however, but dark, angry creatures who resemble horned horses from hell. Suddenly, one of the unicorns starts charging towards Darla, but she's able to calm the creature with the "taste of the rainbow." No, not an actual rainbow but rather with Skittles — which acts as a modern version of Ambrosia (the food/drink of the Gods) here. With the unicorn on their side, it calls in reinforcements and Billy's siblings are soon riding through town on the backs of unicorns, killing monsters.
Saving the day
While most of Billy's siblings go hunting for unicorns, Freddy sees Anthea walking through the crowd and decides to follow her. Eventually, Freddy catches up with her as Kalypso and her dragon begin to terrorize civilians. Once Kalypso spots Anthea in the crowd, she attempts to kill her and Freddy joins alongside Anthea to comfort her. Although Freddy's pep talk might instill some confidence, their situation looks grim. Thankfully, Billy comes to save the day by grabbing onto the dragon's tail and stealing the staff from Kalypso when she's not looking.
It's a scene that feels right at home with Shazam's brand of heroism, and this is the start of his plan to stop Kalypso. Although Billy was beaten badly by Kalypso before, he notices that the staff is accumulating a lot of energy and realizes that he can turn it into a bomb that could destroy the Tree and Kalypso's dragon in one blast. So, he leads Kalypso back to the stadium to enact his plan.
To do so, however, he needs the help of a slowly-dying Hespera, who he asks to shrink the dome so that more people don't get hurt. She does, and the dome now surrounds just the baseball stadium. While this will save everyone, Billy will be left in the blast radius and risks potential death to save those he loves.
Billy's final words to Freddy
With everything in place for Billy to take out the Tree of Life and Kalypso, he bids his family one last goodbye, expecting this sacrifice will end his life. Billy's final conversation with Freddy shows again why he was the right choice to be Champion. Although he's scared and knows that what he's about to do will kill him, he's willing to do it because it's the right thing to do. He even puts his own spin on the "All or None" mentality that's been a part of his family's heroics by saying something along the lines of "All of my family is safe and none of them get hurt." It's an emotional moment between Freddy and Billy and solidifies Billy as a real hero.
Then, without much time to spare, Billy flies into the stadium to face Kalypso and the suspense is higher than ever. Kalypso is way more powerful than anyone Billy has faced before, and now he's all alone in this fight. However, with this renewed confidence and a real plan to beat her, Billy has all the potential to come out on top and save everyone. He even gives himself a stellar entrance sequence that sees him walk out of the stadium tunnel like a superstar. It's the perfect moment to lead into the final fight.
Billy's big sacrifice
As Billy walks into the stadium to face Kalypso, he starts to shoot lightening throughout the dome to get the area all charged up. This resembles like the Tesla lamp that exploded in Billy's room earlier in the film, likely where he got the idea for this plan. With the area all charged up, the two figures brawl, flavored by such visually stunning moments as Billy flying through the dragon's fire breath. Eventually, Billy is able to make the staff explode — killing the Tree, Kalypso, her dragon, and also himself.
That's right, Billy makes the ultimate sacrifice to save his family and even when they find him after the dome disappears, there's no saving him. His body burns all over and he's not getting back up. Freddy's emotion during this moment is crushing and it's quite devastating to see someone as heroic and good-hearted as Billy die. Yet, it feels fitting to who Billy is as a hero and The Wizard is so moved by Billy's sacrifice that he insists the boy be buried like a God. So, Anthea takes Billy's family up to their afterlife realm so that Billy can receive a proper burial.
The power of a demi-god
Billy's tear-inducing funeral boasts a Shazam lightening bolt etched in the dirt on his gravesite, a somber family, and a sense of finality. It also doesn't last for long.
Eventually, The Wizard is asked about the staff's power and if it could be restored. He says that only the spark of a God could restore the staff's power — and that's when some unexpected help arrives. While the Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) cameo had been spoiled by recent trailers, it doesn't make her appearance any less epic.
Diana uses her power to resurrect Billy, who springs out of the ground like a zombie. Everyone hugs him moments later, but just as importantly, he gets to talk to Wonder Woman — who he has been crushing on throughout the film. Billy's had dreams of them on dates in Paris, and now he gets to take his shot at asking her out. It goes about as well as you'd expect.
Wonder Woman tells Billy to keep saving the world, in a delightfully charming way. It's fulfilling to see Shazam finally interact with other DC heroes in a meaningful way, and it's always a treat to see Gadot as Wonder Woman on the big screen.
Family reformed
Now that the staff is fixed, everyone gets their powers back and is able to be a crime-fighting family again. Their next task is to help rebuild the family home that got destroyed when Kalypso's dragon entered their world. Once their home is rebuilt, they can continue saving the world together. But, they have a surprise visitor one night as they're eating dinner. It's The Wizard — in essence, Djimon Hounsou now looking like his dapper self. Sporting a handsome, modern look, he tells the family that he's there to take the staff and is going to start exploring the modern human world he's ignored for so long.
Before he leaves, though, Billy asks him one important question — what is his superhero name? This has been a running joke/dilemma for Billy throughout the film, and at one point someone (a cameo by 1970s Billy Batson actor Michael Gray) even calls him by the character's former name, Captain Marvel. However, The Wizard has a more fitting name for Billy: Shazam! Freddy still insists they could still come up with something better.
A new recruit
The first end credits scene has Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and Economos (Steve Agee) — two members of Amanda Waller's team, as seen in 2021's "Suicide Squad" and the ensuing "Peacemaker" TV series (pictured above) — walking through the woods, delivering some funny banter to each other and saying that they have come on Waller's behalf. They're on a mission to recruit Shazam for a special task force, and he is in a remote location, practicing his aim by shooting bottles with lightening. Shazam is being recruited for the Justice... Society.
It seems like the DCEU isn't ready to let Shazam be a part of the Justice League quite yet, but it's still an upgrade, nevertheless. Billy is a little confused about it at first, but then suggests some fun alternative names for the JSA — including a pretty funny Avengers joke.
Of course, it's tough to say where this plot thread is going — if anywhere — since James Gunn's re-envisioning of the DC universe is still being rolled out. The fact that characters created by Gunn are involved in this scene, however, would seem to imply that all involved will be heard from again.
Old foes return
The second post-credits scene is more a comical rehashing of the post-credits scene from the first film than anything that feels like a significant breadcrumb. But it is fun to once again see Mister Mind, one of the more eccentric villains in the DC realm.
In 2019, the conclusion of "Shazam!" seemingly indicated that Mister Mind (voiced by Sandberg) and Dr. Sivana (Mark Strong) were hatching a plan that would likely form the crux of the sequel. Since neither are found in "Fury of the Gods," the obvious question is: Why?
This time, Sivana is still rotting in jail — now sporting a beard and a more hateful attitude. Once again, Mister Mind shows up, telling him the master plan is nearly complete. Sivana grows angry, saying he's getting older; Mister Mind responds that he can't do things very fast — after all, he is a caterpillar. All he can do is just slither from place to place.
Instead of Mister Mind giving any sort of glimpse into what he's planning, he tells Sivana he has one more thing to do, then slithers away again. Is this just a pointless catch-up scene with Mister Mind and Sivana? Or kicking the can down another couple years until it finally pays it off? If this thread continues in the new DCU, perhaps it could serve up a plot for a potential third Shazam movie or even a Mister Mind role as the big baddie of the Gods and Monsters chapter. After all, he does run the Monster Society of Evil in the comics.
What's next for Shazam?
Truthfully, it's quite unclear what's really next for Shazam with the universe potentially being reset in the upcoming "Flash" movie. "Fury of the Gods" presents some potential storylines for Shazam's future with his family's powers being back, Billy being recruited for the JSA, and Mister Mind still being out there. But, it's unclear where Shazam fits into Gunn's plan — if he does at all.
While it would be disappointing for some to see Levi and Angel replaced after delivering two fun films that have made the character a hit with wider audiences, both are getting older. It's tough to tell what's really in Shazam's future at the moment.
It's no shock that sequel plans aren't confirmed yet, because the DC films are in such a period of transition, but perhaps some solid box-office could make the case for more. As with any good superhero story, there's always a chance the hero could rise again.