How Many Post-Credit Scenes Does 'Shazam' Have?

Short answer: two

Long answer: two, but you might not have to stick around for the second one, because you may have already seen it.

DC are taking some hard-learned lessons and finally following Marvel's lead — and the good news is it's working.

With "Shazam!", director David F. Sandberg ditched the doom and gloom of DCEU's earlier efforts, replicating it with the lighter, more fun tone of "Thor Ragnarok" — and the result is genuinely hilarious.

Gone also is DC's rush to cram in its wider universe in a hurry: Black Adam — or at least the version who will be played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson — does not make an appearance. Nor does Billy Batson's anthropomorphic tiger Tawky Tawny; although Shazam's costume does boast two tiger decals, and a plush tiger toy plays an emotional role in the film.

DC has also adapted Marvel's approach of hiding two scenes within the credits: One "serious" one that sets up a sequel after the initial animated credit sequence; the other goofier one buried right at the end.

The first sees the now-defeated Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong) locked in a tiny jail cell, scribbling the magic runes on the walls in a desperate attempt to regain access to the Rock of Eternity.

Suddenly, an ominous voice echoes: "Primitive simples... You walking, talking monkeys with your cave drawings. You assume there's only one way to gain magic. No, no, no. There are more ways than a mind can imagine."

The camera pans around to find an overgrown caterpillar perched on the windowsill, a tiny voicebox hung around his neck.

"Oh, what fun we're going to have together. The seven realms are about to be ours," he concludes.

The chatty insect is actually the villain Mister Mind, a super intelligent space worm and one of Shazam's arch-nemeses.

If he looks familiar, that's because you may have spotted him captured in a terrarium, right at the start of the film when the young Sivana is transported to the Rock of Eternity. Later when he revisits, the glass cage is smashed open and empty.

If he sounds familiar, that's because he is voiced by the director Sandberg himself — who also voiced Billy's mom's unseen shouty jerk boyfriend.

The second post-credit scene, one that appears to have been deleted from an earlier sequence, is very similar to a clip that already showed up in the Chinese trailer for the film

In it, the writers take a good-natured poke at another DC stablemate: As Shazam continues to try to figure out which super powers he has, he attempts to talk to a goldfish in a bowl.

"Don't beat yourself up buddy, you're going to find someone. Yeah, I'm sure because there's plenty of fish in the sea," he tells the fish to no response — an obvious swipe at one of Aquaman's much-derided super powers.

"What could we do with that that's cool?" he demands of Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) who, pointing to his Aquaman-branded shirt sarcastically fires back: "Uh, maybe command an army of billions in the ocean?"

There are lots of other Easter eggs and references packed in besides — such as the Big toy shop piano — and just as many missing.

Sandberg avoids obvious gags, never once referring to his hero as the Big Red Cheese; nor does he take a stab at rivals Marvel for "stealing" the name Captain Marvel, which is now associated with Brie Larson's super-powered Carol Danvers after a decades-old trademark battle.

Other blink-and-you'll-miss-it, for reference moments are the source of Shazam's acronymous power, which is derived from six heroes of the ancient world: S - the wisdom of Solomon / H - the strength of Hercules / A - the stamina of Atlas / Z - the power of Zeus / A - the courage of Achilles / M - the speed of Mercury... (although the courage and wisdom bits take a while to kick in).

And if you are wondering who is among the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man / Seven Deadly Sins: Pride is the winged one, Gluttony is the fat one, Greed has four arms, Wrath is the gorilla-like one, Lust has the long tongue, Sloth has the really long arms, and Envy, of course, is the little runty one.

Shazam opens today in the US.