Hopefully it turns out that it was all subtle setup for Shazam! 2 and the introduction of Tawky Tawny – an anthropomorphic tiger that has been a friend of the central hero’s going back to the 1940s.
You don’t really notice it unless you’re looking for it, but the first Shazam! movie features a surprising number of references to tigers, from the stuffed one that young Billy wants to win from the carnival in the flashback, to the patch he sports on his backpack, to the visage on the pair of clips that keep the central hero’s cape on his costume.
The character’s story has changed a lot over the years, but it would be a cinch to adapt his most recent incarnation from the comics where he originates from one of the seven realms, and it would simply be amazing to have a blockbuster movie where one of the protagonist’s best friends is a big cat with an appreciation for nice suits.