Billy Batson (New Earth)

Captain Marvel is the World's Mightiest Mortal. Originally, he was an orphaned boy named Billy Batson, who was chosen by the wizard Shazam to be a champion of good. Shazam gifted Billy with the power of six legendary Greek/Judaic figures when he spoke the Wizard's name, transforming into an adult superhero. Later, Captain Marvel would gain the ability to share his power with Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr., creating the Marvel Family. Today, Captain Marvel remains as one of the world's greatest heroes.

History

The Power of Shazam!

 Main article: The Power of Shazam! (graphic novel)

Billy's parents - archaeologists C.C. and Marilyn Batson - were killed by their treacherous assistant, Theo Adam, while on a dig at the tomb of Rameses II at Abu Simbel, Egypt. Theo Adam was the resurrected non-powered form of Teth-Adam, former champion of Shazam. He also kidnapped Billy's sister Mary.

The wizard Shazam is made aware of all of these events, and has Billy brought before him by the dark-clothed stranger, and grants the boy the power to become Captain Marvel. As Captain Marvel, Billy takes on the form of his late father. Theo Adam guesses his identity, has a revelation about the power of Shazam, and becomes Black Adam using a scarab he stole from the tomb. After subduing Black Adam and his employer, the rich tycoon Doctor Sivana, Billy set out to find his sister. Black Adam, reverted to Theo Adam, is rendered mute by Shazam and spends four years in prison.

First Thunder

 Main article: Superman/Shazam!: First Thunder Vol 1

Legends and JLA

 Main article: Legends (event)

Captain Marvel joined the other heroes against Darkseid and G. Gordon Godfrey, Billy was made to believe that he had killed Macro-Man, which led him to temporarily stop being Captain Marvel, as the thought of having killed someone was crushing him,^[1] but as the situation got worse, he returned to use his powers. Captain Marvel became briefly a JLA member, but left the team after few adventures.

War of the Gods

 Main article: War of the Gods

Captain Marvel fights Wonder Woman while other heroes and gods of various pantheons are involved in a conflict known as War of the Gods. Black Adam is freed and his powers returned temporarily by Shazam in order to help in the event, before Shazam stripped him of his powers and voice again in the end of the conflict.^[2]

Reencounter with the sister

 Main article: Mary Batson (New Earth)

Eventually, Captain met his sister Mary, now adopted by the Bromfield Family. She discovers that she can become the heroine Mary Marvel when speaks the name SHAZAM.

Captain Marvel, Jr.

 Main article: Frederick Freeman (New Earth)

Captain and Mary found a boy named Freddy Freeman, mortally wounded by Captain Nazi, and they shared a part of their powers in order to save his life; this power transformed Freeman into Captain Marvel, Jr. The trio of superheroes became known as Marvel Family.

JSA

Captain Marvel became a member of the revived Justice Society of America and was featured prominently in that group alongside his nemesis Black Adam. Captain Marvel had originally joined the team to keep an eye on Adam, who had joined the JSA claiming to have reformed. Black Adam eventually left the JSA to instigate a takeover of his home country of Kahndaq; he had a fondness for the country, and wished to see the totalitarian regime done away with, in what he saw as justice. Captain Marvel remained with the team. During his tenure in the JSA, Marvel dated Courtney Whitmore, also known as Stargirl, which put him in an unusual position; while he could legally date Courtney, it looked very strange and inappropriate, specifically to Jakeem Thunder and Jay Garrick, for the grown-up Captain Marvel to date the teenaged Stargirl. The Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick, another JSA member, confronted Marvel about the issue. Rather than telling Garrick and the team the truth about his age, Marvel chose to follow the Wisdom of Solomon and leave the team and Courtney.

The Marvel Family played an integral part the Infinite Crisis. The climax of the Day of Vengeance saw the Spectre engaged in a cosmic-level battle with the wizard Shazam. At the conclusion of this battle, Shazam was obliterated, and the Rock of Eternity burst apart into Earth's dimension, freeing scores of ancient magicks and evils that had been captured eons ago back into the Universe.

Day of Vengeance

 Main article: Day of Vengeance

In the aftermath of the Day of Vengeance, Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family helped Zatanna and several other beings to capture the Seven Deadly Sins and rebuild the Rock of Eternity. Captain Marvel was then required to take over Shazam's role as caretaker of the Rock. Marvel was later shown fulfilling this role, although teetering on the brink of insanity, constantly talking back to the Seven Sins around him. During this time, Marvel was shown helping Black Adam grant Adrianna Tomaz the powers of the goddess Isis. Later that year, Captain Marvel presided at the marriage ceremony of Adam and Isis in Kahndaq.

52 and World War 3

 Main articles: 52 and World War III

Black Adam's continued attempts to reform, and depicted Adam's formation of, with Captain Marvel's blessing, a "Black Marvel Family". Joining Black Adam in the Black Marvel Family were his wife Isis and her brother Osiris. Isis and Osiris are murdered by the "Four Horsemen", creatures engineered by a team of DC's mad scientist characters (Dr. Sivana among them). As a result, Black Adam takes his revenge out on the entire world, killing millions. Black Adam is halted for a few minutes, just the time needed for Captain Marvel to force a magic lightning bolt on him, turning Black Adam back to Teth-Adam and changing his magic word into an unknown one.

The Trials of Shazam! and Final Crisis

 Main article: The Trials of Shazam!

With Shazam dead, the Rock of Eternity chose Captain Marvel as its new caretaker under the name "Marvel", while Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel lose their powers. A powerless Freddy Freeman is drafted to prove himself worthy to the individual six gods evident in the "Shazam" acronym so that he can become their new champion and herald under the name Shazam, although a witch Sabina De La Croix from the Council of Merlin attempts to take the power herself, as ordered by her father Merlin. Atlas is killed by Sabina, but Apollo's healing replaces him. Marvel helps Freddy when he is trapped by the weight that Atlas bore. Later, Apollo takes Atlas's place in holding the world, while Marvel returns to the Rock of Eternity and Freddy continues his trials. The battle between Freddy and Sabina ends when Freddy is chosen to wield the gods's power, and becomes Shazam, while Sabina is destroyed. As the new Shazam, Freddy takes Marvel's former duties as a superhero.

Justice Society of America

Marvel is ambushed by Black Adam and Isis, who are intent on taking over the Rock of Eternity. Isis robs Marvel of his powers by saying Shazam from a spell book to send lightning at him, and banishes a powerless Billy Batson back to Fawcett City, where he contacts the Justice Society for help.^[3] Upon arriving at the Rock of Eternity with Billy, the Justice Society fights Black Adam and Isis.^[4] Billy is abducted by the now evil Mary Marvel, who shares her powers with him and turns him into an evil teenage Captain Marvel. The evil Billy and Mary join Adam and Isis in fighting the Justice Society. However, Adam switches sides when Isis sets into action her plan to kill off humanity and destroy modern civilization. With the help of the Justice Society's Flash and the spirit of C.C Batson (Mary and Billy's father), the dead wizard Shazam's soul is retrieved from an underworld realm known as the Rock of Finality, and Adam gives up his powers to resurrect him from the statue he is imprisoned in. Shazam promptly takes his powers back from the other three Black Marvels, turns Adam and Isis into stone statues, and banishes Billy and Mary from the Rock of Eternity upon stating that they have failed him. He threatens to come after Freddy Freeman, as his powers come directly from the Gods.^[5]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Abilities

• Occultism: Due to his experiences as both Captain Marvel and Marvel, Billy eventually learns much of the magical world, creatures, their behaviors, etc.^[9][9]
• Charisma: Even without the Wisdom of Solomon, he's a charismatic kid, which in no short part has lead to a successful career as a radio personality even as a young child. Even those not native to Fawcett City have remarked how charming he is.^[12]
• Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic): Billy was trained by Batman in hand-to-hand combat, allowing him to be a capable fighter even without the form of Captain Marvel.^[13] Billy has also been shown to have knowledge of street fighting, which aided in his first defeat over Black Adam.^[14]

Weaknesses

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Historama (Formerly)
• Mother Box: After The Wizard decided to stay in the Sphere of the Gods instead of the Rock of Eternity, Billy and Mary received Mother Boxes to allow them to transform without his power.^[21][22]

Notes

• Captain Marvel was created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck, first appearing in Whiz Comics #2. However, the New Earth version of Captain Marvel first appeared in Legends #1 by John Ostrander, Len Wein, and John Byrne.
• Immediately after his introduction in Legends, the miniseries Shazam!: The New Beginning was published, written by Roy Thomas. A subsequent follow-up series was published in Action Comics Weekly. However, the majority of events from these series were replaced when Jerry Ordway's The Power of Shazam! reintroduced the character. "The New Beginning"-era was later assigned to Earth-85 in Crisis on Infinite Earths: Absolute Edition.
  

Trivia

• Billy Batson's age has been stated or implied several times throughout publications:
  • Billy was about 10^[23] or 11^[24] years old when he first received his powers.
  • During the Power of Shazam! series, Billy expressed to have been Captain Marvel for four years, making him either 14 or 15.^[25]
  • During his time in the JSA, Billy stated he was 16 years old.^[26]
  • Billy was implied to later have turned 18, as both he and Mary owned a apartment.^[27]
• Billy consistently struggles with maintaining his school grades, in part, due to his double life.^[26]
• Billy had a crush on Wonder Woman.^[28]
  

Recommended Reading

• The Power of Shazam!
• The Power of Shazam! (Volume 1)
• The Trials of Shazam! (Volume 1)
• Shazam!: Power of Hope

Related

• 394 Appearances of Billy Batson (New Earth)
• 194 Images featuring Billy Batson (New Earth)
• 30 Quotations by or about Billy Batson (New Earth)
• Character Gallery: Billy Batson (New Earth)

Footnotes

Marvel Family member This character is or was a member of the Marvel Family in any of its various incarnations, and an ally of Captain Marvel and the Wizard Shazam. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Marvel Family members."

Justice Society of America member This character is or was a primary member of the Justice Society of America in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice Society of America members" category.

Justice League member This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice League of America members" category.

Outsiders member This character is or was a member of one or more of the teams known as the Outsiders. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Outsiders members" category.

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