Warning: Spoilers for Shazam! #13

The Rock of Eternity from Shazam lore finds its new home in the unlikeliest of places: a subway system. In an homage to the already buried DCEU, Billy Batson, otherwise known as the Champion of Shazam — or, more recently, the Captain — wakes next to this magical source of indescribable power just under everyone’s feet. This is a place of secret magic, similarly seen in the live-action adaptation of Shazam where Billy Batson first meets the Wizard and becomes Shazam.

In Shazam! #13 by Josie Campbell and Mike Norton, Billy Batson wakes to find the Rock of Eternity has moved underground, and it’s now located in the middle of a subway station. The Captain tells him that if the Rock had landed in such a peculiar and specific place, there must be a reason why. The power is being threatened, however, by similarly subterranean creatures, and elsewhere in the story, Mary Marvel and Freddy Freeman battle monsters in a runaway subway train.

Not only has DC been updating Shazam’s magic, but down here, the Rock of Eternity has now transformed from a solid, physical object into a fluid nexus of magical power, constantly on the move underneath everything – much like a subway, an important location in the first Shazam! movie from the now-defunct DCEU.

DC’s New Shazam Lore Pays Homage to the DCEU’s Shazam

Asher Angel as Billy Batson in Shazam! (2019)​​​​​​​

Even though there is little hope for Shazam 3 in DC’s rebooted movie universe, Shazam! (2019) still holds its place as the brilliant peak in the brief tenure of the now-finished DCEU. Early in the film, a young Billy Batson sits in an otherwise empty subway car as it starts to rock, and the lights start to blink. The transformation is jarring as the subway enters into an entirely different dimension, and Billy steps out into a new world, at the Rock of Eternity.

There, Billy Batson is chosen to become the avatar for Shazam and is imbued with the magic of the six gods that make up his name. Back in the day, it took a lot of magic and rituals to get to a new world. Now, it’s a matter of a cheap fare and a few stops. Shazam is even embracing this modernity of transportation by getting his very own Batmobile in the comics.

What’s a Subway Got to Do With Shazam?

The Magic of In-Between the Worlds

In earlier iterations, the Champion of Shazam, then known as Captain Marvel, descended into the earth through long tunnels to find the Rock of Eternity underneath everything. The descent into the underworld is a typical motif in magical rituals that always end in a Shazam-like metamorphosis of self. However, DC’s current Shazam! series takes place in the modern day, and the tunnels are all replaced with speeding trains. The subway is the updated, modern translation of the mythical cave deep below the earth, and as such, it’s truly one of the last magical places left.

Both honoring Shazam’s magical origins and paying homage to the brilliant sequence in the film Shazam!, this issue of Shazam! shows how the Rock of Eternity is never too far — rather, it’s just under the heroes’ feet. Whether the character of Shazam will be seen again in live action remains to be seen, but in the world of DC Comics, Billy Batson has a whole underground world to save.

Shazam! #13 is available now from DC Comics!

Source: Warner Bros. Entertainment