Shazam, a surprisingly delightful movie that has no business being as good as it is, also has a charming mid-credits stinger that introduces a character with the potential to alter the larger landscape of DC’s cinematic universe. But a deleted scene that’s being included with the film’s digital release teases yet another part of Shazam’s mythos that fans have been clamoring to see.

Welcome back to Toy Aisle, our weekly roundup of all the coolest new toys we’ve seen online. This week: Shazam gets some truly incredible faces to pull. Far From Home’s toys get a little closer to home. Two of Pokémon’s most iconic characters can charge your phone. Plus, the Golden Girls! Wait, what? Check it out!

Mere hours after Shazam handily won the box office on its opening weekend, news about a sequel has already started to break.

DC Comics’s latest superhero movie, Shazam, really took me and my colleague Mike Fahey by surprise. In world of dour superhero stories, Shazam was a wholesome, feel-good breath of fresh air. Today we sat down to talk about the film, family, and how hilarious it is to see a child in an adult’s body.

This weekend the newest DC superhero film, Shazam, was released. Critics enjoyed it. I liked it a lot too. Though while the action and jokes are strong in Shazam, there are some weird video game references that caught me off guard.

These days, superhero movies need a little something extra to make them stand out from the pack. They can’t just be a typical, big-budget, flashy action movie. There needs to be a certain level of humour, pathos, or some poignant commentary that takes the film to the next level. In the case of David F. Sandberg’s new DC movie Shazam, that’s exactly what happens, by hiding a movie about the power and importance of foster families inside a sometimes-silly superhero origin story.

If you want to know how Shazam is going to be different from the DC Entertainment films that preceded it, you need only reference two scenes: One in which the hero fights the bad guy in a toy store filled with DC superhero merch, and another where a big fight takes place at a festive winter carnival, complete with a giant Ferris wheel and dozens of games.

Not your typical DC movie. Not your typical superhero movie period. But that’s Shazam.

It should tell you something that we have run multiple versions of these reminder guides for the state of Warner Bros.’s DC Entertainment movie universe. But it isn’t every week that your whole understanding of the fragile state of a movie universe gets turned upside down by talk of one of its biggest stars exiting, is it?

As DC Comics has transmogrified over the last 20 years, Geoff Johns has been at the very centre of — or, at least, extremely close to — the engines of change. His title is different nowadays, but he’s still going to be working on deepening interpretations of the company’s iconic characters.

After Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, and Justice League, all of which exist in the same universe, Shazam! looks like it's going to be a breath of fresh air for the DC Extended Universe. Very happy, very silly fresh air.

The big show is on! Comic-Con officially began this week in San Diego, and we're there to experience it first-hand and bring you all the fun. Our own Beth Elderkin and Germain Lussier took a stroll around the show floor on Preview Night to give you a sneak peak at what to expect.