Shazams Origin Story Powers & Movie Changes Explained

Shazam’s Origin Story, Powers & Movie Changes Explained

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Shazam! is one of the DCEU’s most powerful superheroes. We explain his magical abilities and what changes the movie makes to his comic book origins.

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Shazams Origin Story Powers & Movie Changes Explained

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Shazam!

Shazam! introduces the DC Extended Universe’s newest superhero, but what are his powers and how does his origin story compare to the comics? Created by writer Bill Parker and artist C.C. Beck, the character now known as Shazam debuted in Fawcett Comics’ Whiz Comics #2 in February 1940. His creation was inspired by the success of DC Comics’ Superman but in his 1940s heyday, the red-clad superhero originally known as Captain Marvel was more popular and outsold the comics starring the Man of Steel.

Shazam is a pure wish fulfillment character. His hook is that a young boy named Billy Batson can simply say a magic word – “SHAZAM!” – and he is transformed by a magic bolt of lightning into the World’s Mightest Mortal, who possesses the combined powers of six mythical gods and heroes. Unlike characters like Superman and Batman, who were adults at the peak of their abilities, Shazam enabled the power fantasy of children to magically become heroes themselves. Shazam also fights evil alongside the Shazam Family (formerly known as the Marvel Family), where Billy’s sister Mary and his friends like Freddy Freeman also could transform into heroes with similar powers and became his teammates, which broadened the character’s appeal.

Related: Shazam’s After-Credits Scenes Explained

Shazam’s publishing history is complicated. A long legal dispute with DC led to the character’s cancellation and the bankruptcy of Fawcett Comics. As the rights to Shazam/Captain Marvel languished, rival publisher Marvel Comics assumed the copyright and created their own character in the 1960s named Captain Marvel – which eventually led to the Marvel Studios blockbuster feature film Captain Marvel. In the 1970s, DC began publishing comics about the original Captain Marvel under the title Shazam. For decades, both Marvel and DC claimed a hero named Captain Marvel until DC permanently renamed their hero Shazam in 2012.

But now that the World’s Mightest Mortal is starring in his own feature film directed by David F. Sandberg (Lights Out), here’s what you need to know about how the movie changes his comic book origins, and what Shazam’s superpowers are:

Last updated: April 4, 2019

Billy Batson’s Origin Story As Shazam In The Comics

Shazams Origin Story Powers & Movie Changes Explained

The basic details in Whiz Comics #2 of how Billy Batson gained superpowers and became a champion for good have remained intact for almost 80 years. Billy, a 12-year-old orphan, is lured into an abandoned subway station where a magical subway car transported him to the Rock of Eternity, the magical lair of an ancient wizard named Shazam. By speaking Shazam’s name, a bolt of magic lightning transformed Billy into Captain Marvel/Shazam, a superpowered adult in a red suit, yellow boots, and a white and gold cape, with a lightning symbol on his chest. Captain Marvel was charged with a mission to fight as a champion for good by the wizard, who promptly died (but eventually returned). Whiz Comics #2 also introduced Captain Marvel’s evil arch-enemy Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, who will also oppose Billy in the Shazam! feature film, where he will be played by Mark Strong.

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One of the aspects of Captain Marvel that made him unique was that he was no lone caped crusader – he soon spawned an entire family of similarly attired and powered heroes, the Marvel Family, which included his sister Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel, Jr., Uncle Marvel, etc. Billy’s origin story would also receive a few tweaks a few decades later: the 1987 miniseries Shazam! The New Beginning turned Dr. Sivana into his uncle and the 1994 Power of Shazam! graphic novel introduced Billy’s dead archeologist parents. Both of these soft reboots tied Shazam’s need for Billy to become a superhero to the emergence of Black Adam, the wizard’s original champion who turned evil. Dwayne Johnson was cast as Black Adam in the DCEU years ago and he is still expected to headline his own film starring the “Anti-Hero” before someday meeting Shazam in a movie.

Related: Who Are The Shazam Family? DC’s New Movie Team Explained

In 2012, Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank rebooted Shazam for DC Comics’ New 52 era: Billy is now a troubled 15-year-old full of attitude who comes to live in a group home in Philadelphia. When Dr. Sivana unleashes Black Adam, the ancient Wizard Shazam begins abducting people to find someone “pure of heart” who could be his champion. Shazam finds Billy by also bringing him via magical subway car to the Rock of Eternity, but the orphan convinces the wizard that perfectly good people don’t really exist. Desperate, Shazam decides the potential to be good is enough and gives Billy his powers, transforming him into the magical superhero now called Shazam, before the wizard died.

Billy quickly confides his new alter ego to Freddy Freeman, his roommate in the group home, and they exploit the benefits of Billy being in an adult superhero’s body before Black Adam attacks Shazam. The superhero not only had to battle Black Adam but also the Seven Deadly Sins, which Adam had unleashed on Philadelphia. Shazam did so by bestowing his powers on the other children in his group home – Freddy, Mary Bromfield, Pedro Peña, Eugene Choi, and Darla Dudley – turning them into the Shazam Family.

Shazam’s Origin Story In The Movie

The Shazam! movie closely follows the origin established by Johns and Frank’s New 52 comics: Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is a 15-year-old orphan in Philadelphia who comes to live in a group home run by Victor (Cooper Andrews) and Rosa Vazquez (Marta Milans). Also living in the home are foster kids Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), who becomes Billy’s roommate, Mary Bromfield (Grace Fulton), Pedro Peña (Jovan Armand), Eugene Choi (Ian Chen), and Darla Dudley (Faithe Herman).

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Billy is rebellious and plots to run away from the home, but after he saves Freddy from school bullies, Billy runs into the subway where he’s magically transported to the Rock of Eternity – the source of all magic in the world. There, the ancient Wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou), who is the last of the seven members of the Council of Wizards and is seeking a champion to pass his powers to, has chosen Billy to be his champion and say his name. Despite Billy mocking the name “Shazam”, the boy is transformed into the adult superhero version of himself played by Zachary Levi. Shazam’s mission is to battle Thaddeus Sivana, who unleashes the Seven Deadly Sins upon the world. This is a difference between taking on Black Adam (who Shazam will face in a later film) versus the Seven Deadly Sins – who arise out of the statues in the Rock of Eternity, through Sivana.

In the original Fawcett comics, Captain Marvel actually switches places with Billy Batson after transformation and is a different person. The British comics series Marvelman, a.k.a. Miracleman in the United States, written by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman explored this body-switching concept in disturbing detail. However, in the 1980s, DC Comics’ Captain Marvel/Shazam was rebooted to be Billy Batson in his perfect adult body. The Shazam! movie also follows suit so that Zachary Levi’s superhero is the idealized adult version of Asher Angel’s Billy, with a nod to the classic Tom Hanks film Big.

Page 2 of 2: Shazam’s Powers Explained

John Orquiola is a Features staff writer who has been with Screen Rant for four years. He began as a director’s assistant on various independent films. As a lover of film and film theory, John wrote humorous movie reviews on his blog, Back of the Head, which got him noticed by Screen Rant. John happily became the Star Trek guy at Screen Rant and he leads Feature coverage of the various Star Trek series, but he also writes about a wide range of subjects from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Cobra Kai. His other great nerdy love is British TV series like The Crown, Downton Abbey, and Killing Eve. John can be found on Twitter @BackoftheHead if you want to see photos of the food he eats.

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