{"id":5628,"date":"2019-03-19T22:27:38","date_gmt":"2019-03-19T22:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog-proxy.atomtickets.com\/?p=5364"},"modified":"2019-03-27T12:12:40","modified_gmt":"2019-03-27T12:12:40","slug":"shazam-ily-affair-the-history-of-the-shazam-superhero-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/shazam-ily-affair-the-history-of-the-shazam-superhero-families\/","title":{"rendered":"Shazam-ily Affair: The History Of The Shazam! Superhero Families"},"content":{"rendered":"

With one magic word, Billy Batson becomes the world\u2019s mightiest mortal. On April 5th,\u00a0<\/span>Shazam!<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u00a0hits theaters. Since 1940, the character has been protecting the citizens of Fawcett City and beyond, eventually earning membership into both the Justice Society and Justice League.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a weird coincidence that\u00a0<\/span>Shazam!<\/span><\/i>\u00a0is opening so close to the release of\u00a0<\/span>Captain Marvel<\/span><\/i><\/a>, the latest film in the juggernaut that is the MCU. When DC’s Shazam first came on the scene, he initially had the moniker now carried with pride by Marvel’s Carol Danvers.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His transition to the name Shazam (the name he shares with the ancient wizard who bestowed him with his powers) was a blessing in disguise. For years, many fans considered Shazam an imitation of Superman, sharing a plethora of the same abilities<\/a>. With his current incarnation being magic-based, Billy Batson and his alter ego have an easier time finding their voice within the DC Universe.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For those of you that follow the comic books, the upcoming film looks to support the \u201cNew 52\u201d origins of the character. \u201cNew 52\u201d refers to the 2011 relaunch of DC Comics, where all of their characters received updated origins and costumes (though his movie costume looks to retain some of the elements from the Golden Age, like his OG short white cape). While some of the changes had mixed reactions from fans, one that went over well was Shazam.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since his inception, Shazam has relied on family to help in his fight against evil. If you\u2019ve read the recent comic and have seen the new series of Funko Pop! figures, you might have an understanding of how the movie will address that concept.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>However, before there was the \u201cShazam Family,\u201d there was the \u201cMarvel Family.\u201d Billy Batson was rarely alone in his adventures. Heck, even his arch-nemesis Black Adam gained his own family for a time. Before Shazam!<\/em> hits theaters, let\u2019s have a history lesson into the original Marvel Family, as well as the Black Adam Family.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Marvel\/Shazam! Family<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
\"The

The Marvel\/Shazam! family (Credit: DC Comics)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Marvel Family was made up of Billy Batson, his twin sister Mary Baston (Bromfield) and Freddy Freeman. After the death of Billy and Mary\u2019s parents, the twins were separated, with Mary adopted by the wealthy\u00a0<\/span>Bromfields<\/span>, and Billy sent to live with his Uncle Ebenezer. Billy\u2019s arrangement was short-lived, as Ebenezer eventually stole Billy\u2019s trust left by his parents and kicked him out onto the street.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Learning to survive on his own, Billy never lost his kind heart, which is why he was chosen by the wizard Shazam to be the bearer of the powers of Captain Marvel. When Billy speaks the wizard\u2019s name, he channels the forces of Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury (AHA! It\u2019s an acronym!). As Captain Marvel, Billy used his powers to defeat foes such as Doctor\u00a0<\/span>Sivana<\/span>, Mr. Mind, The Monster Society of Evil, and the aforementioned Black Adam. When there were no super-villains around, he would also help citizens figure out what song they were listening \u2013 wait. Sorry.<\/span>\u00a0Wrong Shazam.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, Billy reunited with his sister Mary. When a group<\/span>\u00a0of<\/span>\u00a0kidnappers took Billy before he can say the magic word, Mary was granted a portion of Billy\u2019s powers and became Mary Marvel. In hindsight, that may not have been the best name. \u201cYes, Commissioner. Bruce Batman here. I\u2019m on my way.\u201d Ah, comics.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Along with his sister, Billy befriended young Freddy Freeman. While on a fishing trip with his grandfather, the two found themselves in the middle of a battle between Captain Marvel and Captain Nazi. I mean, at least there\u2019s no internal conflict there. With a name like Captain Nazi, you know what\u00a0<\/span>you\u2019re getting. After receiving a mortal injury, Freddy is taken to the wizard by Marvel, who begs his mentor to save his best friend. Shazam agrees, and when Freddy says the name of his hero, Captain Marvel, he receives another portion of Billy\u2019s powers. Unlike Billy and Mary, who become adults upon transformation, Freddy retains his youthful appearance and takes on the name Captain Marvel, Jr. (it\u2019s as if they knew they were eventually going to lose the Marvel name, so the creators decided to go all-in for as long as they could).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The trio was inseparable for years, with the occasional fight or two. They\u2019re family. Families fight. It\u2019s natural. With the New 52, this history of the Marvel family was put to the wayside, as the \u201cShazam\u201d family replaced it. Billy is now Shazam, Mary is Lady Shazam, and Freddy is Shazam, Jr. The good news is that anyone trying to figure out their secret identities no longer has Mary\u2019s name as an obvious neon sign. No matter what their family name is or how they found each other in the modern day, their sense of family is something that has not, and will not, be lost.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Black Adam Family<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
\"The

The Black Adam family (Credit: DC Comics)<\/p><\/div>\n

Teth<\/span>-Adam was a prince of\u00a0<\/span>Kandaq<\/span>\u00a0around 1200 B.C. He was the first person granted the powers of the gods when he uttered the name Shazam. Becoming the hero Black Adam, he fought for hundreds of years in the name of good (because superhero lifespan<\/span>). However, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and Black Adam returned to\u00a0<\/span>Kandaq<\/span>\u00a0and overthrew the government, becoming its dictatorial ruler. Adam’s corrupt ways didn\u2019t sit well with the wizard Shazam, who then trapped\u00a0<\/span>Teth<\/span>-Adam\u2019s soul in an Egyptian scarab, leaving the world without a champion for years.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Years later, archeologist Theo Adam found the scarab and used the power to become the vessel for the resurrected Black Adam. For years he fought the wizard\u2019s current champion, Billy Batson (Captain Marvel), until he attempted to redeem himself, even joining the Justice Society for a time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, Black Adam\u2019s old ways started to creep back in, and he once again became the ruler of\u00a0<\/span>Kandaq<\/span>. This time, however, his alternative means of justice were for his people and not for his gain. See, a refugee, Adrianna\u00a0<\/span>Tomaz, had<\/span>\u00a0stolen Adam\u2019s heart and did her best to convince him there were better ways to rule a country. Adam gifted\u00a0<\/span>Tomaz<\/span>\u00a0with the amulet of Isis, which gave her powers similar to his as the goddess Isis.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The two were eventually married, and not only were they able to rule\u00a0<\/span>Kandaq<\/span>\u00a0peacefully, but also found Adrianna\u2019s brother, Amon, who had been captured and tortured by Intergang. Much like Freddy Freeman, Amon suffered a permanent disability because of it and is granted powers by Black Adam, becoming Osiris.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While the Marvel family is a story of hope, the Black Adam family is one of tragedy. Sobek, the family\u2019s trusted servant (also an anthropomorphized alligator) eventually kills Osiris, while Isis dies in battle against the manifestations of the Four Horsemen, granted physical form by Doctor\u00a0<\/span>Sivana<\/span>\u00a0(none of them looked like Ric Flair, though. Weird.).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Triumph and tragedy. Love and loss. Happiness and anger. The Marvel and Black Adam families are opposite sides of the same coin. While we won\u2019t see Black Adam go against Billy Batson in the upcoming film, a battle against the two is inevitable (we can\u2019t wait to see Dwayne Johnson in an official superhero movie, finally). If history is said to be doomed to repeat itself, then a battle of the families won\u2019t be far behind.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shazam!<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>opens in theaters April 5th.<\/span>\u00a0Get your tickets here.<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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With one magic word, Billy Batson becomes the world\u2019s mightiest mortal. On April 5th,\u00a0Shazam!\u00a0hits theaters. Since 1940, the character has been protecting the citizens of Fawcett City and beyond, eventually earning membership into both the Justice Society and Justice League.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s a weird coincidence that\u00a0Shazam!\u00a0is opening so close to the release of\u00a0Captain Marvel, the latest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":5635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[33,40],"class_list":["post-5628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial","tag-featured","tag-featuredpage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5628"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5636,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5628\/revisions\/5636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}