IT’S (not) JOHN CENA! We finally know who will play the titular hero in one of DC’s upcoming films. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed Zachary Levi will star as Shazam! in the DC Extended Universe. Levi is best known for his role in Chuck, the beloved NBC spy-comedy series, Fandral in the Thor sequels, and the voice of Flynn Rider in Disney’s Tangled. Shazam! is the alter ego of Billy Batson, a…
Shazam AU, where Billy keeps his powers even when he’s not Shazam. The only reason he turns into Shazam is to keep a secret identity.  Imagine a villain “depowering” him, only to get curbed-stomped by a 10-year-old.

Against his villains, Billy would sometimes threaten to turn 10, because getting beaten by a child does bad things to a guys reputation.
Pre-Identity Reveal, Bruce goes to Fawcett for a business trip and accidentally sees Billy using his powers. Immediately assumes that Clark had an illegitimate child.
Can you imagine Bruce confronting Clark about this but just going: “You know what I’ve seen how you’ve handled a similar situation in the past, I’m going to take care of this. All you have to do is sit there, look pretty, and nod at the right intervals.”
And the Bruce goes to have a conversation with Billy and this slightly feral child is worried Bruce is trying to get him adopted so he’s all: “I already have a home, you’re not going to take me to a secondary location.”
And Bruce just goes: “Yes yes we fully support you and your family, we just think it’s important for you to have a good mentor, someone who can talk to you about how your body is changing and how to deal with it.”
And poor Billy obviously misinterprets: “Blah, I already had the Talk please don’t”
Bruce: “As if I would ever let Clark give you the Talk, what with his track record. But that’s not where I was going with that”
Anyways after a long very winding conversation, Billy ended up on the justice league, like separately from Shazam.
Flash: So how did we end up with a 10 year old on the justice league.
Clark: You know I’m really not sure how that happened and I was there.
Batman: I’m worried he’ll get along very well with my kids.
Lois has the patience of a saint dealing with all her husband’s baby daddies. She’s a fucking amazing step-mother though and she has a co-parenting schedule worked out with Luthor she’s already mentally working Marvel into.
——
Kon swinging by the watchtower when Billy is there: Hey, uh so I just wanted to say I’m here for you, like as a brother. I know Clark is an idiot and that uh… People are sometimes jerks about having two dads… If you wanna talk or something.
Billy so lost and mildly touched: uh… T-thank you?
—-
Tim invites Billy to join the Teen Titans: I get families being complicated, and so do most of the Titans. If you want to hang out with people closer to your age there’s always room at the Tower.
Oh oh Lois ropes Billy into more family time.
Like, “I understand your situation is complicated Billy but we want you to know that you are loved and appreciated by all of your families. Which is why we will be going to the fair this Thursday. You can plan to spend the night with us, don’t worry I’ll clear it with your dad first.”
“Ok so I’ve set aside a weekend for you, Kon, and Clark to all go and spend some time together. It’ll get you a chance to really learn about the other half of your heritage. And don’t worry, it’s the same weekend a bunch of the league are doing a mindfulness retreat together, so Captain Marvel will be occupied as well!”
Billy is still slightly confused but just goes with it. Also no time to unpack everything; he’s a little busy making sure he’s both camping with Clark as Billy and on a retreat as Captain Marvel at the same time.
Okay but can we combine this with the Lex Luthor abruptly turning into Captain Marvel’s number one fan because I want to see what happens
Yes we absolutely can.
So here’s the thing, because of Lois, Lex currently has a great functioning relationship with Kon, who just so happens to be Billy’s half brother. You know, Billy, who’s other dad is apparently Captain Marvel.
This is great because instead of just asking Lois to schedule in a bonding day with Captain Marvel, Billy and Kon like a normal person, Lex comes up with this very elaborate scheme. Which ensures through a convoluted series of events that Superman (and only Superman) is very busy during his normal bonding weekend.
So naturally Lex steps up and says he’ll take over. After all, he should meet with Kon’s brother and his father- you know for family bonding relationships reasons and such. (Lex is absolutely not giddy that his plan is coming together and he gets to meet and hang out with Captain Marvel what are you talking about?) And which restaurant do you think they would like? Do you think he’ll sign my mug?
Poor Kon is like, dad please you’re embarrassing me! And I’m still your favorite right?
(Lois is just shaking her head like: you could have asked me to set up a get together for you, you didn’t have to send robots and the like after my husband. Also when will he be home?)
Billy is very tired but he’s in too deep at this point to turn back. The only option is to keep digging and see what happens.
Okay yes I love it.
Lex trying to spend more time with Billy and Clark is over there like, “This one isn’t even your kid!”
And then Clark comes to some (wrong) conclusions and solemnly informs Billy over dinner one evening that he thinks Lex might be trying to date his dad (Captain Marvel) and Billy spits out whatever he just had the misfortune of consuming and stumbles out a “Sorry, I’ve gotta go. Emergency….thing.”
Clark watching him leave being like, “Poor kid. It must be hard having your someone interested in your dad like that.”
Cue Billy showing up to the watchtower (still as Billy) and confessed everything to the first person he finds, who was not the least bit involved in this whole mess and is still trying to wrap their mind around the fact that this kid is also Captain Marvel, and oh no, didn’t all of them offer him some beer the other day, and oh my gosh are they all terrible examples and so now that person is also having a crisis.
So then someone else walks in on these two people having a crisis and it all quickly escalates and I don’t know what happens next but as far as identity reveals go for Billy I think this is one of my favorite HCs now
@mizzy-pop I agree about Diana. It does fee right.
Okay and what if it was Barry and Hal that Billy found first
Just imagine Hal, just barely back from space, being immediately confronted with this small person in crisis and having no idea how to deal with this and being like what the hell happened while I was gone
Meanwhile Barry sitting there thinking of all the times he was probably a bad influence on Billy. I can’t believe I dared him to do a canonball out of a plane into the sand dunes why was I thinking
And then Diana finds them all because yeah, it does feel so right
Okay, but imagine if that isn’t the whole reveal and Billy just ups and recruits Hal and Barry into trying to help him keep his secret and deal with the mess he made. Also he’s like can one of you mabye set Lex Luther up with a date that’s not one of my alter egos. Thanks.
If either try to protest Billy just goes “hey remember the time that you tried to get me, a child to” and they both instantly agree.
Give John Constantine a child -not because it would be particularly good for either of them, but because I want to watch John have more issues.
John, absolutely traumatized from Newcastle/Astra: …
Me: okay but what if we give him another one
“But what about the child-“ it’s about the whump, not the child. The child is simply a means to an end.
Also I think it would be funny someone called John a dilf
Ideally the child would not be his, but ended up in his care through shenanigans.
Look, Batman’s kid literally died wearing booty shorts. John ‘nearly’ poisoning a child is really not that bad of an offense.
This is why I love fics where John takes in Billy Batson because they are basically just roommates. Billy is so stubbornly independent so John can’t dump him with someone else but he also can’t just leave the kid homeless to figure out magic by himself so now there’s this KID hanging around that he doesn’t know what to do with. Beautiful.
So I was donating blood and was thinking of an AU where Billy knew he was Captain Marvel, knew how to access his powers but retained nothing of Marvel’s memories. A consequence of the magic is that the human mind can’t comprehend it so Billy transforms and essentially blacks out until he changes back. I can only imagine the sheer frustration of Bill having No Idea what he was up to as Marvel. His street buds think he’s the biggest Cap fanboy because he’s constantly tracking down down info on the heroes fights and missions in a desperate bid to understand.
Marvel himself would be Billy but maybe he too has a hard time connecting to his mortal self’s memories. He knows he’s from Fawcett City, that he struggles and barely scrapes by under difficult circumstances but he really can’t recall any details or information about Bill’s life. He may even forget that his true self is child. Pretty ironic if Cap is voting down introducing child sidekicks to the League.
Freddy is shaking Billy down for info about what the Justice League is like and Bill is red faced from frustrated tears because he knows Nothing. He knows via interviews that the JLA loves Marvel, trusts him and talks to him alot but he doesn’t remember. Superman probably told Marvel his identity but does Bill know? Nope and its incredibly annoying.
Fawcett Publications more or less shut down it’s comic book publishing division and sold off the majority of their characters to rival comic book companies in 1953 - this was the aftermath of a twelve-year legal battle with DC comics over allegations of Fawcett’s Captain Marvel being a copyright infringement of DC’s Superman. Part of the settlement included Fawcett never publishing another Captain Marvel or Mavel Family comic book again. You can find more information about the lawsuit at National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications.
In 1972, DC comics licensed the rights to Captain Marvel (and associated characters) from Fawcett Publications with the intention of taking advantage of the fanfare Captain Marvel had built up in the 1940s. DC comics were no longer able to use the name ‘Captain Marvel’ however, since Marvel Comics had trademarked the name in 1968. Thus, DC renamed 'Captain Marvel’ to 'Shazam!’.
In the 1970s, DC had used Shazam! to full effect - not only did he receive an ongoing series in 1973, but he was also the lead character in a 1974 live-action television series (Filmation’sShazam!) and starred in two episodes of NBC’sLegends of the Superheroes in 1979. Despite all of the publicity DC put into Shazam, it did not sell as well as it *should* have. DC cancelled the Shazam! ongoing series in 1978 after 35 issues, and Shazam!’s adventures continued in the pages of World’s Finest. Apparently, Fawcett’s licensing agreement with DC had a per-use fee for every appearance a Fawcett character made in a DC publication, hence DC’s reluctance to use the characters after the Shazam! series ended.
In 1981, Captain Marvel got ANOTHER crack at television - this time in an animated cartoon produced by Filmation that ran from 1981 to 1982. NBC’sThe Kid Power Hour with Shazam! ran on Saturday mornings, featured Captain Marvel as well as of the Marvel Family and their associated rogues, and lasted 13 episodes.
Sometime in the early 1980s, Roy Thomas,Don Newtonand Jerry Ordway submitted a proposal for a new Captain Marvel. This new version of Captain Marvel would be an Earth-One character (as Shazam! and the rest of the Marvel Family in the 70s Shazam! ongoing series were part of the Earth-S/Earth-5 universe) and would be an African-American character who would turn into Captain Thunder when he said the word “Shazam”. Calling this new character 'Captain Thunder’ was obviously a throwback to the original Fawcett version of the character (Captain Marvel was originally intended to be named Captain Thunder, but couldn’t - due to trademark reasons). The proposal never saw approval from the DC editorial board.
In 1985 the Crisis On Infinite Earths cross-over event happened, which was DC’s effort to simplify it’s continuity by eliminating all of those 'other’ earths in the DC multiverse (Earth-S/Earth-5 included). Shazam and the Marvel Family were now part of the same DC universe as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. For reasons I cannot explain, DC decided to publish a re-adaptation of the Shazam!/Captain Marvel origin (as per the Fawcett Publications version) in Secret Origins #3 (1986). This is a little confusing to me since Roy Thomas retconns Shazam!/Captain Marvel’s origin once again in the Shazam! The New Beginningmini-series.
As explained by Roy Thomas, the goal of this mini-series was to re-introduce the Shazam!/Captain Marvel mythos back to DC readers, but in a way that was more in line with the current state of comic books. The theory was that the reason why DC’s Shazam! never hit the astonomical sales numbers of it’s Fawcett Publications heyday was because the stories were too silly/whimsical for the modern audience - the new modern audience wanted more realistic stories/art that could relate to the world they lived in. So, Roy and (his wife) Dann Thomas got to work scripting the new Shazam!/Captain Marvel reboot.
Major changes Thomasintroduced:
Dr Sivana became Billy’s evil uncle
Uncle Dudley became Billy’s real uncle
Billy kept his own personality when becoming Shazam! (versus switching between his and Captain Marvel’s personality - as seen in Fawcettissues)
Black Adam is quickly introduced and is part of Captain Marvel’s origin
No plans of introducing Lieutenant Marvels
Fawcett city is removed, Shazam! now operates on the West Coast of the USA
A little more insight into Billy Batson’s life before the death of his parents is given. This is meant to flesh out the character of Billy Batson.
origin of Wizard Shaman set before age of pyramids in Egypt - mentions “God-Birds” (I am 99.9% sure they are sliding in a Hawkman reference here)
the Wizard Shazam is aware of the pre-Crisis Marvel family from Earth-S/Earth-5
Dr Sivana is no longer a humorous villain, he is now deadly and a threat to be taken seriously.
On a side note, Thomas originally wanted to make Billy a more typical kid with a typical job, but the first issue ofLEGENDS got plotted and penciled before the LEGENDS creative team were made aware of Thomas’ new plans for the character. Shazam! The New Beginning was actually a prequel to the LEGENDS mini-series (although this mini-series would only be published as LEGENDS was ending), and Shazam! became a member of Giffen’s Justice League in 1987. Shazam! even got an action figure of himself in the third wave of Kenner’sSuper Powers Collection toyline (1986).
Illustrated by artist Tom Mandrake, the mini-series was a great read and did really well in sales. According to Thomas, when the possibility of an ongoing series was discussed, the idea was shot down by DC management. Shazam! later appeared in 1988’s Action Comics Weekly for a few issues and a new Shazam! ongoing series was announced, but the idea never saw the light of day. Some have speculated that the reason the idea never went anywhere was because DC didn’t completely own the rights to Shazam! (Filmation acquired the television rights to Captain Marvel in the 1970s), and didn’t want to invest heavily in a character they weren’t guaranteed would actually belong to them.
DC would ultimately purchase the full rights to Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family fromFawcett publications in 1991 and Jerry Ordway would go on to reboot the Shazam!/Captain Marvel origin yet again in DC’s Power of Shazam! 1994 graphic novel.
Fawcett Publications more or less shut down it’s comic book publishing division and sold off the majority of their characters to rival comic book companies in 1953 - this was the aftermath of a twelve-year legal battle with DC comics over allegations of Fawcett’s Captain Marvel being a copyright infringement of DC’s Superman. Part of the settlement included Fawcett never publishing another Captain Marvel or Mavel Family comic book again. You can find more information about the lawsuit at National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications.
In 1972, DC comics licensed the rights to Captain Marvel (and associated characters) from Fawcett Publications with the intention of taking advantage of the fanfare Captain Marvel had built up in the 1940s. DC comics were no longer able to use the name ‘Captain Marvel’ however, since Marvel Comics had trademarked the name in 1968. Thus, DC renamed 'Captain Marvel’ to 'Shazam!’.
In the 1970s, DC had used Shazam! to full effect - not only did he receive an ongoing series in 1973, but he was also the lead character in a 1974 live-action television series (Filmation’sShazam!) and starred in two episodes of NBC’sLegends of the Superheroes in 1979. Despite all of the publicity DC put into Shazam, it did not sell as well as it *should* have. DC cancelled the Shazam! ongoing series in 1978 after 35 issues, and Shazam!’s adventures continued in the pages of World’s Finest. Apparently, Fawcett’s licensing agreement with DC had a per-use fee for every appearance a Fawcett character made in a DC publication, hence DC’s reluctance to use the characters after the Shazam! series ended.
In 1981, Captain Marvel got ANOTHER crack at television - this time in an animated cartoon produced by Filmation that ran from 1981 to 1982. NBC’sThe Kid Power Hour with Shazam! ran on Saturday mornings, featured Captain Marvel as well as of the Marvel Family and their associated rogues, and lasted 13 episodes.
Sometime in the early 1980s, Roy Thomas,Don Newtonand Jerry Ordway submitted a proposal for a new Captain Marvel. This new version of Captain Marvel would be an Earth-One character (as Shazam! and the rest of the Marvel Family in the 70s Shazam! ongoing series were part of the Earth-S/Earth-5 universe) and would be an African-American character who would turn into Captain Thunder when he said the word “Shazam”. Calling this new character 'Captain Thunder’ was obviously a throwback to the original Fawcett version of the character (Captain Marvel was originally intended to be named Captain Thunder, but couldn’t - due to trademark reasons). The proposal never saw approval from the DC editorial board.
In 1985 the Crisis On Infinite Earths cross-over event happened, which was DC’s effort to simplify it’s continuity by eliminating all of those 'other’ earths in the DC multiverse (Earth-S/Earth-5 included). Shazam and the Marvel Family were now part of the same DC universe as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. For reasons I cannot explain, DC decided to publish a re-adaptation of the Shazam!/Captain Marvel origin (as per the Fawcett Publications version) in Secret Origins #3 (1986). This is a little confusing to me since Roy Thomas retconns Shazam!/Captain Marvel’s origin once again in the Shazam! The New Beginningmini-series.
As explained by Roy Thomas, the goal of this mini-series was to re-introduce the Shazam!/Captain Marvel mythos back to DC readers, but in a way that was more in line with the current state of comic books. The theory was that the reason why DC’s Shazam! never hit the astonomical sales numbers of it’s Fawcett Publications heyday was because the stories were too silly/whimsical for the modern audience - the new modern audience wanted more realistic stories/art that could relate to the world they lived in. So, Roy and (his wife) Dann Thomas got to work scripting the new Shazam!/Captain Marvel reboot.
Major changes Thomasintroduced:
Dr Sivana became Billy’s evil uncle
Uncle Dudley became Billy’s real uncle
Billy kept his own personality when becoming Shazam! (versus switching between his and Captain Marvel’s personality - as seen in Fawcettissues)
Black Adam is quickly introduced and is part of Captain Marvel’s origin
No plans of introducing Lieutenant Marvels
Fawcett city is removed, Shazam! now operates on the West Coast of the USA
A little more insight into Billy Batson’s life before the death of his parents is given. This is meant to flesh out the character of Billy Batson.
origin of Wizard Shaman set before age of pyramids in Egypt - mentions “God-Birds” (I am 99.9% sure they are sliding in a Hawkman reference here)
the Wizard Shazam is aware of the pre-Crisis Marvel family from Earth-S/Earth-5
Dr Sivana is no longer a humorous villain, he is now deadly and a threat to be taken seriously.
On a side note, Thomas originally wanted to make Billy a more typical kid with a typical job, but the first issue ofLEGENDS got plotted and penciled before the LEGENDS creative team were made aware of Thomas’ new plans for the character. Shazam! The New Beginning was actually a prequel to the LEGENDS mini-series (although this mini-series would only be published as LEGENDS was ending), and Shazam! became a member of Giffen’s Justice League in 1987. Shazam! even got an action figure of himself in the third wave of Kenner’sSuper Powers Collection toyline (1986).
Illustrated by artist Tom Mandrake, the mini-series was a great read and did really well in sales. According to Thomas, when the possibility of an ongoing series was discussed, the idea was shot down by DC management. Shazam! later appeared in 1988’s Action Comics Weekly for a few issues and a new Shazam! ongoing series was announced, but the idea never saw the light of day. Some have speculated that the reason the idea never went anywhere was because DC didn’t completely own the rights to Shazam! (Filmation acquired the television rights to Captain Marvel in the 1970s), and didn’t want to invest heavily in a character they weren’t guaranteed would actually belong to them.
DC would ultimately purchase the full rights to Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family fromFawcett publications in 1991 and Jerry Ordway would go on to reboot the Shazam!/Captain Marvel origin yet again in DC’s Power of Shazam! 1994 graphic novel.
