Billy Batson - Tumblr Posts - Page 2
The Roots
by TheBigFootedBird The Justice League think that Captain Marvel is from another planet and he continues to send mixed signals, so they don’t know what to think anymore. Words: 2217, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: DCU, DCU (Comics), Justice League - All Media Types, Shazam! | Captain Marvel (Comics), Shazam! (Movies - Sandberg) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Billy Batson, Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Barry Allen, Oliver Queen, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Clark Kent, Justice League (DCU), Diana (Wonder Woman) Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s), Billy Batson & Justice League, Billy Batson & Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Billy Batson & Bruce Wayne, Billy Batson & Clark Kent, Billy Batson & Diana (Wonder Woman), Barry Allen & Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Barry Allen & Oliver Queen, Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) & Oliver Queen, Barry Allen & Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) & Oliver Queen, Alfred Pennyworth & Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Billy Batson is Captain Marvel | Shazam, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Green Lantern Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Barry Allen is The Flash, Clark Kent is Superman, Billy Batson-centric, Homeless Billy Batson, Billy wants the league to struggle, They are not happy, Clark is trying to be the voice of reason, I'm Bad At Tagging via https://ift.tt/rhbQ9IL
Knight Terrors: Shazam! (2023) #1-2 covers by Dan Mora
Scenario, where Billy is working at the Whiz station and during a Halloween party he was forced encouraged to wear a kids sized Captain Marvel costume and had his hair done to be slicked back too for the full look.
Naturally, he was not happy about it at all so when they had a group photo of everyone in costumes you just have this grumpiest kid at the front dressed as the happiest man alive so people start to also refer to him as Grumpy Marvel instead of Whiz Kid and the popularity of the photo just spirals out of control.
Billy is anything but happy about it, and he genuinely almost lost his shit when someone in the League mentioned the photo.
I like to think that regardless of whether Batman knows Cap is a kid or not, he notices he has a really hard time sitting still during meetings and is fully prepared to deal with that
Billy Batson & Bruce Wayne
I think it would be cool if Billy and Bruce pretended to be father and son instead of actually being one.
I think this would happen some time after Bruce finds out who Captain Marvel is.
On one of Billy's school trips to Gotham, funded by Bruce Wayne, and in yet another investigation to see why there are dangerous magical items that always go to Gotham
Billy finds a way to disappear from the group, and goes to the agreed place for Bruce to take him to the store.
The trip to the store went smoothly, the magical item was safely recovered and now it was time to get back to their proper tasks... or so they thought.
because Bruce Wayne was seen not only walking the streets of Gotham, but with an unknown child.
It would be easy for Bruce to simply get out of this situation by getting in his car and driving away, but Billy decided to get back at Batman for snooping around in his life.
Then in the greatest act Billy has ever done, he grabs Bruce's expensive suit and says, "We have to get back quick, Mommy's waiting at home."
After that, all the news channels go crazy with the "information" that Bruce Wayne has another biological son and a wife, could it be the same mother as Damien? Could it be someone else? Since all the information about little Billy comes from Fawcett, that Billy works at Radio Whiz, that he lived on the streets and that he went through foster homes.
It was reported in the newspapers that Bruce Wayne has a biological son, and that he was with a woman from Fawcett.
Now Bruce is in trouble with a bunch of journalists trying to find out who is whose wife, the mother of his supposed son, and worst of all Bruce can't adopt Billy because after all these years alone he managed to be emancipated, he only lives with Uncle Dudley because he wants to.
Dick is laughing his head off at the whole situation.
Jason is bugging Bruce about this.
Tim is creating false information about this just because it's funny.
Damien is tipping his hat to Billy for his excellent play (not that he'll admit it).
And Alfred is as ever, unfazed, yet amused about this relationship they have created. Obviously Alfred has prepared a room for William.
Captain Marvel Compilations
I think when it comes to press, Marvel would be a clip farm, or at least have a bunch of compilation videos about him.
Captain Marvel dropping lore bombs pt.1
Marvel: “I’m not saying the Christian God isn’t real. Me and Jesus are tight! I’ve had to help the big man upstairs wrangle souls back to heaven for God’s sake!”
*cut*
Marvel: *lounging on one of the couches in the watchtower, talking to Flash* “You know I helped build the Tower of Babel, right? Like no joke we finished, and I was talking to one of my champion buddies, and I was like ‘hey, wanna get food after this?’ And she responded to me in a language I don’t even think exists anymore.”
8 minutes and 47 seconds of the Big Red Cheese tweaking out
Marvel: *Speechless, trying to find words, at a villain* “You- You- You do realize I can give you a lobotomy and literally no one here will try to stop me, right? Like- *Points to the middle of his own forehead.* “-you do realize I can shove my finger through your skull, scrape away at your frontal lobe, and make sure you survive… right?”
*cut*
Marvel: *Smiling* “Like that’s the thing with Black Adam, on one hand I want to bash his skull in with an aluminum baseball bat and watch it explode like a fucking egg getting smashed on pavement, excuse my language, but on the other hand his reactions to half the things I say are hilarious.”
6 minutes and 39 seconds of Captain Marvel reacting to women
Marvel: *Saves some lady from a burning building. Lady tries to kiss him and he dodges the kiss. He slightly cocks his head to the side and looks her up and down with a blank, yet somehow at the same time, disgusted expression before flying off.*
*cut*
Marvel: *Gets flashed by college student. He grabs the fabric between two fingers as if he was handling trash and pulls it back down before flying off.*
When one of the JL members showed him the compilations, he was horrified, especially at the tweaking out video.
Thank you for the explanations! It explains a lot about the 80s/90s Shazam and the latest movies. I'd love to read more issues with him to Get how they messed him up
@ace-is-undead It’s nice to meet a new fan! I hope you make lots of friendships on here❤️
For anyone who’s curious, this person asked me:
as someone taking interest in Captain Marvel because of the movies (never heard of him before :/), I'd love to know why you think the movies ruined Billy's image! Bear in mind, I recently started reading some comics about Shazam
I knew I’d be making a hella long comment, so I thought, hell, let’s make a post!
Now, as a preface, I worded what I said a little too strong. The 2019 movie isn’t the worst piece of Shazam/CM media ever. There are definitely parts of it that I liked. The humor was 10/10 for me, and I did like the costumes. There are things about the story I don’t like, but for the purpose of all of us not sitting here for the next two hours, I will stick with just Billy’s personality.
This post will probably have stated everything more eloquently than me lol:
Many Golden Age heroes were created/used to combat war trauma. To the kids who read those comics, it made them feel safe. To read about these people with fantastical abilities, who regularly fought Nazis, supervillains, and entire armies.
Captain Marvel was a little different, though. It wasn’t an adult who was doing the protecting. Or, it wasn’t JUST an adult. It was also Billy Batson. A kid, like all of the other kids reading these comics. And it was different from kid heroes like Robin because he was the hero. The main hero.
Before the New52 reboot, basically from the 40s-2000s, but I could be wrong, Billy was a homeless kid. His uncle Ebenezer threw him out after his parents died and stole his inheritance. He got a job at Whiz Radio and became a reporter, giving him enough money to get his own apartment.
In one continuity, his friend Dudley becomes his guardian. In the most famous interpretation, the Power of Shazam series from the 90s, he is, after some time, adopted by his twin sister Mary’s adoptive family the Bromfields, and Nora Bromfield happens to be their mother’s cousin.
The important thing to grasp from this is that Billy was independent. Responsible. And when he got his powers, he was also responsible with them. He has a few fumbles, but he was always able to keep them and do good with them.
His Captain Marvel persona was also like that. He led the Squadron of Justice, a team of Fawcett heroes. There are also instances of heroes like Batman and Superman praising him as a trustworthy hero, even knowing about his identity.
It’s also important to note that, while in some times the Captain character is childish, he is never stupid. He makes mistakes, is a little goofy, but he never does anything outright cringe worthy.
A prime example of a good interpretation is the JLU episode Clash. The whole JL really likes him. For some reason my tumblr is acting up today so I can’t put any videos without it not allowing me to type afterwords. But the series is on Netflix. Like holy heck, Bruce says they all like him because he’s sunny. Bruce!
There’s also comic examples, like Action comics #768, which is in the POV of Superman. I’m just gonna put everything Clark thinks as text.
“And then it happens.”
“Armed with the wisdom of Solomon, the patience of Atlas, and the focus of Achilles, a teenage boy in the body of a man defends human kind to a frog goddess.”
“I can’t imagine anything more ludicrous. I can’t imagine anything more moving.”
“With unmatched eloquence, he explains humanity’s needs, our weaknesses, and our relationships with nature to a being as old as time.”
“She retorts. It’s not the act itself that enrages her, but the fact that her people are taken for granted.”
“Bred, butchered, wasted. Without appreciation for the contribution to the lifecycle.”
“He emphasizes. It is a horrible thing to be underestimated, unappreciated, forgotten.”
“His sincerity is a living thing. They speak for an eternity until Heqt has been heard and appeased.”
“Then, the war is over. Diplomacy and reason succeeds, where force…where I… simply would have failed.”
This is another example:
I mean the whole Captain Marvel-focused panel is Clark and Bruce arguing with Diana that Cap will be a great asset to the League, and how Bruce wants him on because he’s just GOOD. They all knew he was a kid, and they didn’t care because they trusted him that much!
Many 80s and 90s comic showed Cap as this beacon of hope, very akin to his Fawcett era, which is why so many of us liked it. He was still goofy at times, but it never overshadowed how much of a hero he was. Hell, the Fawcett heroes never gave a damn about him being a kid. All they saw was a person doing good, and they automatically began working with him.
He would get into friendly tussles with Superman, and him and Diana hugged one time, and she confided in him about how she might die. I can’t find the issue, but it’s drawn by Alex Ross, so that may narrow it for you.
Cap was genuinely respected. There are even some comics where Billy’s is interacting with the League as himself and they treat him like any other friend!
And Billy was chosen not because he was a last resort, but because the Wizard saw so much good and purity in him. He still made mistakes, but he was never not worthy.
Compare that with, not just the Shazam movies, but the DCAMU movies(JL War & Throne of Atlantis), and you get a whole other monster. I mean, he is just dumb, awful. He’s good when he’s Billy, a little snarky while also being a good person and comforting Cyborg(before taking his jersey, lol). But when he’s Shazam(his name in the DCAMU) every single thing that came out of his mouth was just… not it. If gets even worse in Throne of Atlantis. Literally almost everyone on the team hates him. The only reason Cyborg doesn’t is because he knows his identity.
In the 2019 Shazam movies, hes very similar. They made him a lot more jaded, which just ruined his character for me because Billy is the type of person who would rather die than talk down to other kids going through what he did. I’m cool with the rebelliousness, it’s just that that I’m worried about. It’s even worse in the 2013 shazam comic series because he’s actually way meaner there. Like jeez, why do you want me to hate this boy so much DC??
And as his Shazam self, he’s like ten times more goofy and irresponsible, which is such a backwards take it’s insane.
The character of Captain Marvel was beloved by so many children because it showed that they could be just like those other heroes. They could fight the monsters and get the job done, and no one would look down on them. They would be taken seriously. Seeing this kid bond with and interact with and be trusted by these seasoned adult heroes was EVERYTHING.
I may not have a grown up in the 40s/50s, but I did get introduced to him in JLU, and then Young Justice, and then obscure media, and then comics. And through that journey, the take I loved infinitely more was of Captain Marvel being this guy who made mistakes, but always tried to do the right thing.
Making him out to be this…immature dude who never knew what he was doing just stomped on all of us. It also really irks me because that is how some people will be introduced to him. As opposed to who he really is. And they won’t be interested because the face value is all they’ll see.
Heck, some people think he’s one of the weakest DC characters when he ranks in the top ten. He’s the Champion of Magic and guardian of the Rock of Eternity for Pete’s sake! He’s fought and almost won against the Specter himself! (Day of Vengeance comic series, it’s so good!)
It’s unclear why his character has been so diminished. Some people, including me, think DC is trying to lower his…everything in general so he can never measure up to the Man of Steel, which is so petty it’s ridiculous.
Hopefully he’ll get something in James Gunn’s new DCU, a movie or a show. Because I feel like there’s a chance to reintroduce the true Captain/Shazam to people.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my petty-fueled rant😅. Sorry for the angry spews. Anyway, there are some good reading lists for Shazam/Cap on tumblr. I really advise you to check those out. Though there are also a few articles on google listing all of his appearances, so if you wanna get detailed then those are where you should go.
We also have a Captain Marvel fan club! Go over to @im-not-buying-it-ether and ask for an invite for more content.
I hope you have a fulfilling journey!