There are two scenes you can stick around and see once the credits roll in Shazam!, and they echo the Marvel formula of one being a serious tease for future movies (the mid-credits scene) and the other being more of a light-hearted joke (the post-credits scene). Let’s unpack what exactly happened in that mid-credits scene, since this is the one that will likely clue us in on the overall direction of the Shazam! movie franchise moving forward.

SPOILERS: Obviously, spoilers will follow. If you haven’t yet seen the movie, turn away now.

By the end of Shazam!, the villainous Doctor Sivana (Mark Strong) has been defeated and placed inside a cell, alone, where he’s frantically scribbling glyphs and runes all over the walls. These are the same symbols Sivana used earlier to open the portal to the original wizard Shazam’s lair, otherwise known as the Rock of Eternity. But here in his jail cell…no luck.

All hope, and Sivana’s sanity, seem lost until a voice reaches him from the barred window vent. The voice belongs to a tiny, alien-looking caterpillar who suggests the two work together and take over the “Seven Realms.”

That caterpillar is Mr. Mind, a mind-controlling worm from Venus and the longtime arch-nemesis of Captain Marvel/Shazam. He made his first appearance in Issue #26 of Captain Marvel Adventures all the way back in 1943 and is known for creating the Monster Society of Evil, which happens to be one of, if not the first super-villain teams in comic book history. You guessed it, Doctor Sivana is on that team (though not at first). Not coincidentally, the Crocodile Men we briefly glimpse in the “portal doors” scene also have a meaningful connection to this fraternity of baddies.

Fans of the comics likely noticed Mr. Mind far earlier in Shazam!. The telepathic mastermind can be spotted inside a glass jar within Shazam’s lair, only for that cage to be empty later on in the film. Mr. Mind has changed in a lot of ways over the years and has become a far more menacing figure than his initial cameo in Shazam! may readily suggest.

The Seven Realms, however, are a newer mythology conceived in part by Geoff Johns, and the comics have yet to fully explore each realm in the “Shazam and the Seven Magic Lands” comic arc. Obviously, Earth (or Earthlands) is one of these realms, and as the movie highlights, seven wizards (or Seven Champions) are required to properly watch over the magical universe at large, no doubt a creative sync with the “Seven Deadly Sins” as we know them in the movie.

It’s easy to assume at this point that Mr. Mind and Dr. Sivana will go on to play at least minor roles in the next Shazam! movie, but we can also consider this a tease for Black Adam, a villain (and sometimes anti-hero) in the Shazam-verse who will be played by Dwayne Johnson in his own solo film, set to release…eventually.

At one point, Black Adam was even expected to have a cameo of some sort in Shazam!, but plans apparently changed. Regardless, Black Adam has been affiliated with the Monster Society of Evil before, along with Dr. Sivana (who helps resurrect Black Adam), King Kull the Beastman, Mr. Atom, Oggar, and of course, Mr. Mind himself. Looks like The Shazam Family has their work cut out for them.

The idea of the films actually diving into the lore of the Seven Realms is certainly an intriguing one that can beget a variety of colorfully diverse movies, as Johns has even mentioned he wants the newer Shazam stories to have the magical whimsy and fun of The Chronicles of Narnia and Alice in Wonderland.

For example, one of the recent comics takes place in the Funlands, a magical realm filled to the brim with kid-filled theme parks, where a newcomer to the story vies to be chosen as the seventh champion in addition to Billy’s foster family. And similar to how the movie shows Billy using a subway to appear in Shazam’s lair, the other realms can be reached by a magical train station.

Bizarre? Sure, it’s about as out there as a talking caterpillar or the manifestation of sins as gargoyle demons. And considering Mr. Mind’s consistent presence as a major villain in these stories, it’s no surprise Warner Bros. wants him revealed sooner rather than later in order to get fans excited, setting a definite tone of all-out magic for their next big franchise.