I’m surprised none of the usual sites I follow took notice of this. Yes, the story is about supervillains being granted potential amnesty to prepare for another Darkseid invasion. The stakes can’t be any less than all of everything nowadays. Plus modern day writers want to blur the lines between “hero” and “villain” to the point that it doesn’t exist, which I’m sure I’ll be able to complain about again in the future. On the other hand, look what’s circled. It’s Billy Batson’s superhero name.
It isn’t Shazam.
It’s Captain Marvel!
Originally created by rival publisher Fawcett Publications, Captain Marvel and later the classic Marvel family of Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Junior and friends were the most popular superheroes in comics. Then superhero interest starting waning right around the time that DC Comics (National Publications at the time) decided to misuse the legal system to get rid of Superman’s biggest competition…and then buy it out and drag the characters into the DC Universe. Long story, and I hear different takes on who won what. It doesn’t matter. During the time there was Captain Marvel (just after a really name name swipe for a really lame character), Marvel Comics grabbed the name on the grounds that they’re Marvel Comics and thus should have a hero named Marvel. None of the Captains Marvel they’ve tried over the years, including the current Carol Danvers, have caught on nearly as well as Billy Batson.
At some point DC stopped trying. They couldn’t use the name on the comic covers but he was able to use it in the comic itself as well as the two TV shows produced by Filmation and the gag special two-parter Legends Of The Superheroes. There was also the old movie serial that predated this nonsense. He was never called Shazam, and why would they? The show starred more than one hero, especially the cartoon that also featured Mary, Captain Marvel Jr, Uncle Dudley (who liked to think he had powers), the Wizard, and the bipedal lionman Tawky Tawny. Meanwhile the previous live-action series had Billy joined by Mentor who lived up to his name alongside the various gods and heroes of legend that Captain Marvel’s powers were tied to. We all knew him as Captain Marvel regardless of what the merchandise said or what the comic/show title was.
They decided to go with “Shazam” anyway, meaning his magic word to transform was also his name. The same joke about Captain Marvel Jr, not being able to say his name without changing back, now would be applied to our hero if they didn’t add some nonsense about how you said it. Then the New 52 happened and Geoff Johns totally reimagined him and the Marvel Family concept, which I’m sure had nothing to do with royalties and Retcon Johns’ obsession with his own “better ideas”. More recent shows, as well as both theatrical and direct-to-video movies, have thus gone with the name even when he was just showing up in a team show. I think the last use of Captain Marvel was either Batman: The Brave & The Bold or Young Justice.
This return should be a bigger deal, but I only found out about it because Facebook showed me this article from ComicBook.com. Writer Marcus Helminiak questioned if this should happen after 15 years of Shazam. I see his points and he has some fair ones, but I disagree. He deserves his proper name back.
“Superman’s not the only one who can throw cars around on his debut.”
Billy Batson is one of the strangest superheroes to talk about. With just a word, he can transform from a normal young man to an adult empowered by the gods, with strength to rival or even succeed Superman’s. That word is, of course, Shazam. Originally, this was just the name of the Wizard who granted Billy his powers, while Billy’s heroic persona was Captain Marvel. However, trademark conflicts with Marvel, the company, meant that DC couldn’t publish comics titled Captain Marvel. Thus, they usually named his comics something with Shazam, and, with the New 52 relaunch, decided they wanted the hero and title to match and officially changed his superhero name to Shazam.
It’s not so strange. Billy was created with the idea of kids becoming a superhero while at the same time having a powerful superhero adult form. The trademark issues are due to Marvel being babies. The New 52 ruined everything, though the damage started with Dan Didio.
That smoothed over the logistical side of things, but complicated the character’s lore quite a bit. After all, that was the Wizard’s name and quite literally the one word Billy couldn’t say without becoming a kid again. That aspect actually varies between writer and storyline, but the main point is that the name change wasn’t a perfect solution. DC must think so, too. As of Justice League Unlimited #18, DC has looped all the way back around. Billy Batson is officially Captain Marvel once again, but how long do we think this will last?
Do we know for certain that’s permanent? Or that it wasn’t a mistake as Mark Waid, who wrote the comic, or maybe even the letterer and nobody caught it, didn’t forget about the name change? I don’t want to get my hopes up here.
He’s iconic, and screaming Shazam and transforming are obviously the most striking details about his character. Changing his name to Shazam seems like a no-brainer, especially considering the competition. Marvel’s own Captain Marvel is not only probably better-known right now, but also from the company with that name.
And nobody cares. Marvel Studios rushed theirs to theaters while the Fawcett/DC version was trapped in development hell and not many fans connected with their take on Carol Danvers, already a mess in the comics due to trademark hoarding and “modern audience” nonsense. I liked Carol best as Warbird, but that’s another conversation. It was just Marvel holding on to a name it never deserved just because they shared it. It’s like that guy who created Edge Magazine and sued Namco over their Soul Edge game, forcing them to rename the franchise Soul Caliber because they had more important things to do that deal with one moron’s overinflated ego and greed.
People are obviously going to associate Captain Marvel with Marvel Comics. A DC character named Captain Marvel might be weird to new fans, and as dumb as it sounds, sometimes that gut feeling is the difference between someone getting into a character or not. This problem is only exacerbated by DC’s decision to change to Shazam in 2011. Since then, Billy has starred in two live-action movies, while Marvel Comics’ own Cap has skyrocketed in popularity thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The current generation of fans has practically grown up on Shazam, and DC has pushed for this to be in public consciousness. Basically, Billy is competing with an arguably more popular character with an easier claim to his name, and that’s bad.
I see what you’re saying, but has the name ever stuck in comics? Forget the shows, which until Young Justice kept the Captain Marvel name, because the comics are the source material. While Carol’s adventures weren’t immediate garbage, fans in the know who grew up with Billy as Captain Marvel weren’t as accepting. I blame the trademark hoarding but I admit to being totally biased here. Perch could probably tell you the sales figures and stuff, but a lot of comic fans, and I don’t know how well any new ones came in with Billy as Shazam, still called him Captain Marvel.
Believe it or not, but this isn’t the first time that Billy’s name has changed in the last few years. In Shazam (2023), he was officially renamed the Captain. Looking back, this can be seen as DC testing the waters to see if anyone would make a fuss about him not being called Shazam. Fans seemed pretty ambivalent overall, which gave them the signal to commit fully to Captain Marvel. It’s worth noting that Shazam (2023) and Justice League Unlimited were both written by Mark Waid. He’s a well-known fan of the Silver Age and Billy, so he’s likely the driving force behind this name reversion.
It’s also silly that he couldn’t say his name without some lame “he has to say it a certain way” nonsense, like he the Zagrases from Babylon 5. That was an issue for Freddy Freeman, since his powers came not from the Wizard (and while technically he has said his name was Shazam in various depictions I always knew him as just The Wizard, not to be confused with the Marvel villain) but from Billy saving his life using his powers. Speaking of which…
Can I also make the case that they aren’t even the same character? Captain Marvel and Shazam both have the secret identity name, the magic word, parts of the origin, and then a whole bunch of changes. For Shazam in the New 52 the Wizard was replaced with some aboriginal looking guy. Billy’s Captain Marvel personality was kind, helpful, and didn’t let every bad thing that happened to him get the better of him, while Shazam Billy was a total jerk, which I’ve discussed in the past. Freddy was a friend while Mary was the only sibling, her adopted family taking him in. Outside of a few other “Billy Batsons” for reasons I haven’t gotten into yet because I’m not up to those reviews currently, nobody else had powers, while Shazam gets a whole multicultural foster family of comrades. Even the lightning bolt is different while Shazam also gets a hoodie for some reason.
Let’s not forget that Shazam can shoot magic lighting bolts from his hands or his glowy new lightning bolt that was also a redesign but they’ve gone back to the classic bolt, which Captain Marvel couldn’t. He could fly, be invulnerable, and was superstrong. (Though for some reason they had him weaponize the magic lighting that transformed the Marvel Family somehow. I never understood that.) No seeing through walls or burning holes in things with his eyes.
S.H.A.Z.A.M. was technically an acronym that went over where Billy’s powers came from. The wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus (lighting was something he threw, not generated so that’s not what Captain Marvel got), the courage of Achilles (worked for Cringer/Battlecat), and the speed of Mercury. Two Greek gods and a bunch of legends, with wisdom being the first power. That might have been a coincidence in creation (“HAZMAS” doesn’t have quite the same ring) but it makes sense that wisdom would go first, given that Billy was a child, though it’s something Black Adam ignored with the same power. Meanwhile, Mary Marvel got her powers from other goddesses and heroines only in recent years, while according to Google AI they made up some entities for Billy-In-Name-Only to use. Shazam isn’t Captain Marvel in so many ways. He’s like a whole other Billy Batson.
Beyond the logistical issues, there are clear wins and losses DC takes by calling him Captain Marvel once again. For starters, it appeases all the older fans who were never on board with the change and those who just preferred his original name. It also smooths out Billy saying the magic word in character. Billy and the extended Shazamily and Black Adam often face challenges based on their saying or not saying the word in specific circumstances. Tricking or forcing them to say it is a common trope, after all. This means those stories are back on the table without the caveat of Billy being able to say it whenever he wants.
Of course a good fist will work, too.
Black Adam was stopped in his first appearance by being tricked into saying the magic word…and then promptly turned to dust because being in his Black Adam form stopped his aging. Man was from ancient Egypt after all. It was also how they stopped him in his lone Filmation cartoon appearance. DC brought him back so Captain Marvel could have an opposite number, like Zod or Sinestro. They also ruined Filmation heroine Isis but who’s shocked? I think he even stopped Black Adam in another comic by calling the bolt and moving out of the way once, but I could be wrong.
Of course, this also smooths over the mythos strangeness. The Wizard can once again go by Shazam, and Billy can go back to not being able to say the word without transforming. The pros are cleaner in-universe situations and older recognizability, while the cons, as explored above, are confusion for newer and more casual fans. Billy’s name is always changing. He was Captain Marvel for seventy-one years, Shazam for twelve, the Captain for three, and is Captain Marvel once again. Here’s hoping that this name change actually sticks, and DC doesn’t reverse it in about three years.
I know that’s my choice. The comic and shows might have been called Shazam but not every story has to be named for the hero. In fact, most aren’t outside of superhero comics and stories, and even some superhero stories are named for something else. The example coming to mind is Miraculous: Tales Of Ladybug And Cat Noir. Their names are in there but the main title is Miraculous, named for the jewelry (it’s a girls’ show) that’s the source of their powers. For me he was always Captain Marvel and I never knew of the Marvel Comics version until…maybe The Super Hero Squad Show since he never showed up in any Marvel series, and neither did Monica Rambeau. Carol was going by Ms. Marvel even though she had the Warbird costume. (Kids show rules, I guess.) I hope this is permanent. It’s just better for Billy Batson as a character (now just give Billy his personality and classic family situation back, please–nothing against the Mighty Marvel Power Rangers personally) and frankly Marvel Comics/Studios, nobody cares about your version. We liked other names for Carol and Monica and there’s a reason Mar-Vell is dead. Just let the Marvel Family be themselves, names and all.
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