History Fridge / Shazam2019

* How can you get a hint that [[UnreliableNarrator Billy's memories of his mom]] aren't entirely reliable? The [[NostalgiaFilter filtering on that memory is extremely bright]]. When we see most scenes in the movie that play in reality, it is a bit of a blue or grey tone, and when Billy's mom recounts that memory to him with what really happened, the scene takes on that color. It also makes sense since as a child, Billy wouldn't really recognize the stress and anger his mother was going through (she was also visibly red-eyed from crying) and his young mind would reimagine the memory as something more cheerful.
* Early on in the film, Billy's caretaker coos that he's better off not hunting high-and-low for a [[AbusiveParents mother who never came for him.]] At that moment, it can be assumed to be a statement which seems reasonable but unaware of a heartwarming truth which isn't cleared up for the audience yet. [[spoiler: Hold your butts till the WhamEpisode later on...]]

** Patience - he is able to forgive his mother for her treatment of him, in contrast to Thad who slaughtered his family as soon as he got his hands on the means to do so.

** The compass fits Billy very well, as a compass requires that you know the place you want to go for it to be of any use. Obviously, it highlights his helplessness in finding his family since he doesn't even know where they are, but him giving it back to his mother also shows character development; at that point he knows exactly where he's supposed to be (with a family that loves him, rather than his blood family), and doesn't need the compass to help him find it. However, [[RuleOfSymbolism he bestows it to his mother]], recognizing she needs help finding her way in life.

* Throughout the film before the big reveal, you were probably wondering why despite all the effort Billy underwent to look for his mother (his notebook has over 70 female individuals with the same surname as him), his mother never seemed to bother filing a missing person's case with his name from her end, which would have immediately got him found and returned. It is a sign that the abandonment was not accidental.

* Why are Billy and his mother's memory of the day they got separated different? Because Billy was only a small child who had an ideal image of his mother, while his mother was older with a more realistic memory.
* Why Billy called the {{Badass Bystander}} that defended herself from robbery a "grandma" despite being on her 30's at most? It's not just because of Billy being a teenager but also because of his mother, who was 17 the last time he saw her. So if a teenager barely older than him can be a mother, someone with the double of his age can be a grandma
* The movie has a theme of people spending years desperately searching for something to the point of obsession and the tragic consequences of such.
** Sivana searched for the power he had been denied as a child, and ended up posessed by evil monsters and mentally broken by it in the end.

** Billy was so obsessed with finding his biological mother that he rejected any attempts to bond with his foster families for years, but his mother left him because she felt that a foster family could give him a better life than a scared abandoned seventeen-year old girl could.

* Billy Batson is the fourth DCEU hero to rely on his mother after Clark (Martha), Diana (Hippolyta) and Arthur (Atlanna). Too bad she couldn't be reliable as the other three were.

* The flashback to Billy's mother abandoning him was set in 2008, which was the year of the U.S. recession. Meaning even if she tried raising him, she would have had a ''very'' hard time nonetheless. Alternatively, she's already reeling from the effects of the recession, which lead her to what she did.

** The Speed of '''M'''ercury. Darla was friendly, well-meaning, talkative, and immediately runs to meet her family members every time she encounters them; she uses superspeed to save individual people from the sins, rather than fighting anyone.

** Sivana stands out as having 8 as his personal number (he wields a magic 8-ball and his alliance with the 7 Deadly Sins makes the group a total of 8). In Orthodox Christianity, despair is classified as the eighth deadly sin, which fits Sivana since he went through a BreaktheCutie[=/=]DespairEventHorizon in his childhood thanks to the Wizard's summoning.

** In contrast to Sivana representing the eighth deadly despair (as mentioned above), Billy represents hope, the eighth heavenly virtue. He is the Wizard's last hope at getting a good champion.

* Bordering on StealthPun, while Freddy trains Billy/Shazam, we hear "Don't Stop me Now". Who's that song by? Music/{{Queen}}, with lead vocals and piano by Music/{{Freddie|Mercury}} ''[[Music/FreddieMercury Mercury]]'' (who also wrote the song). And what was one of Shazam's powers? The speed of '''Mercury'''. Also counts as {{Foreshadowing}} that Freddy would also gain the powers of Shazam.

* Billy's Shazam form is covered with gold accessories. Gold is a very good conductor of electricity.

* Sivana figures that after so many candidates (and rejects) he's gone through, the Wizard would probably have [[ButForMeItWasTuesday forgotten]] he summoned him, given it's been 45 years and he was just a boy then. However, the Wizard remembers him as well as if it were yesterday. Why? Because from the Wizard's viewpoint, that day was a close call, given he almost chose someone tempted by the SevenDeadlySins for the ''second'' time. It was the day he became paranoid that not even a child could be trusted to be "pure of heart".
* During the climax, when the Seven Deadly Sins capture Billy's foster siblings, notice that Darla is in the clutches of Lust. This may not be intentional, but it's rather fitting that Darla (who is innocent and quite caring towards others) is captured by her opposite.

* Billy/Shazam was unable to hurt Wrath, who turned to smoke anytime he would have been hit. This is because you can't use wrath against Wrath. Pedro was able to block Wrath's shot and counter-attack, because this wasn't wrath, this was just defense.

* Mr Mind can be seen in the glass when child and later adult Sivana arrive at the Rock of Eternity. When Billy is summoned to the rock, the glass is broken. Looks like the battle with the Sins got the glass broken, or alternately it was an opportunity Mr Mind took to break out. Either way, Mr Mind got free by Dr Sivana’s doing. So it’s no wonder Mr Mind would take the trouble to seek him out in prison.

** When Sivana returns to the Rock of Eternity, Greed and Gluttony are the first seen to talk to Sivana, showcasing his emerged desire for power.

* Why would Thad be picked if he was so easily tempted? In the comics, Billy Batson was chosen because despite his hardship and tragedy he endured he was still a virtuous boy. Thad was in a similar position of being picked on and bullied, so it looks like the Wizard was choosing people based on their endurance or stamina of life. Selection is based on IncorruptiblePurePureness, which unfortunately for the Wizard [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome doesn't work out in real life as it should]].

* The movie has a theme of people spending years desperately searching for something to the point of obsession and the tragic consequences of such. Sivana searched for the power he had been denied as a child, and ended up posessed by evil monsters and mentally broken by it in the end. The wizard Shazam was obsessed with finding someone "pure of heart" to pass on his power to, but his rigorous standards meant that he ended up rejecting everyone he came across, which ultimately led to Sivana's villainy and the sins being able to escape because his powers had grown weak over time. Billy was so obsessed with finding his biological mother that he rejected any attempts to bond with his foster families for years, but his mother left him because she felt that a foster family could give him a better life than a scared abandoned seventeen year old girl could. Sivana never gets over it, Shazam gives up only by necessity, but Billy gives up on his goal willingly once he realizes the consequences of his actions.
** There is also the theme of being fixated on a goal/ideal that becomes detrimental to the person despite already having something good or better than said goal. Sivana is a rich, successful doctor/psychiatrist all on his own merit but his resentment and need to prove himself to his father and brother and the wizard Shazam eclipse that. The wizard Shazam had encountered many candidates who could have been trained into excellent champions but he rejected them all because they did not match his standards of perfection. Billy had several opportunities to be happily adopted by families who would have gladly taken him in but he ran away from them because he was chasing after the idealized memory of his missing mother.

* Much is made of how Billy fails to manifest The Wisdom of Solomon or The Courage of Achilles throughout the film, being mostly a selfish IdiotHero and DirtyCoward. But look at how he learns about his powers. SuperStrength and NighInvulnerability need only be tested, he figures out ShockAndAwe pretty quick, but {{Flight}} takes a DieOrFly situation to unlock, as does his ability to teleport to and from the Rock of Eternity. Wisdom and Courage would be even more esoteric and harder to access, especially for a confused, scared, angry, emotionally damaged teenager. Moreover, The Wisdom of Solomon is on display several time as [[EurekaMoment flashes of brilliant inspiration]], and after Billy's confronted his mother and learned Sivana has his real family hostage, The Courage of Achilles is on full display.

** How much more abuse did Thad take from his dad and brother in the years from the prologue to the present? They already abused him heavily, and now that he caused the car crash that took Mr. Sivana's legs, they must have dialed that abuse even further. And considering how old Thad and his brother look compared to the prologue, that must have been ''decades'' of domestic hell.

* Billy pretending to be tempted by the Eye of Sin is funny and all, but imagine if he tried to pull that shit off with Shazam. Given the latter's personality, he probably would've taken that at face value.

* During the climax, when the Seven Deadly Sins capture Billy's foster siblings, notice that Darla is in the clutches of Lust. This may not be intentional, but it's rather fitting that Darla (who is innocent and quite caring towards others) is captured by her counterpart.