They just rebooted him and decided to change the name for brand synergy. None of the current versions of DCs characters are the same characters as their golden age counter parts in-universe. They just took advantage of the fact that a bunch of their characters were getting new origins or rebooted continuities to change the name. The current Shazam is no more a ‘new’ character than Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman.
This is just about where you draw the lines between “same character”, “different version of a character” and “different character.” It’s not always clear-cut or definitive, but I’d still go with “different version” in this case.
Are the modern version of batman, superman and wonder woman different character from the originals since they have deviated significantly from their creation?
BIG Red Semantics
By that logic, DC has no Batman, or Superman, or Wonder Woman, or Flash, or Green Lantern, they just rebooted them.
Sounds like a “reach”
New Version, sure, an “entirely new entity?” No
Same basic costume, same basic powers, same basic origin (right?)
I stopped reading but do both versions ever interact or one just stays on his Earth S?
This is like saying post crisis superman is a different character from pre crisis as they’re very different characters. Plus the modern shazam’s earliest origins can be seen in jlu where they had captain marvel just be Billy batson in an adult body
“They’re different characters, they just have nearly the same costume, powers, origin, and alter ego” Shazam is 100% Captain Marvel but with a different name. They just changed his name for any number of branding reasons.
Whoever wrote this needs to touch some god damn grass
Love this character but hate how wasted he’s been. Could easily be DC cinematic foothold as far as the movies are concerned, and he’s such a fun character to read about in the comics.
I’ve always loved the Captain Marvel name and hated the change to Shazam.
I know nothing else really changed but I still think it’s lame af.
This is the most Thermian of arguments. You really have to turn off your brain to buy into it. Also, the New 52 doesn’t exist, the Rebirth timeline is a hybrid of the post-Crisis and post-Flashpoint continuity, so the Captain Marvel in that isn’t strictly this one.
It’s silly to have a comic character that can’t even say his own name without turning back into a non-powered kid.
Bad Guy: “Oh look it’s the Big Red Cheese himself!”
Shazam: “That’s SHAZAM to y- (BOOM) aww crap..” (Bad Guy punches Billy Batson in the chest, liquifying his organs)
New to comics or just new to reboots?
I really wish that DC, when they realized they couldn’t properly trademark Captain Marvel back in the 70s, had just renamed him Captain Thunder (or something else that was available) to avoid handicapping the character like this.
BS.
It’ll never happen, but it would be wonderful if Marvel/Disney would let DC/WB use the title Captain Marvel, so we can do away with all this “Shazam is his name?” bullshit. He’s Captain Marvel but due to copyright that can’t be the title of his book.
Doesn’t make any sense. They’re the same character just branded with a different name.
Yeah sure, if you exclude everything that has Billy Batson called Shazam
Uh…. and THE Batman’s name is now Batman.
Big whoop.
Holy pedantry, Batman!
Well whoever originally posted this was just stretching.
Earth-S (Pre-Crisis), Earth-5 (Post-Crisis), and Earth 5 (Post-Flashpoint) are all based on the original Fawcett history of the character and so they keep that original name.
What about the main continuity? Post-Crisis continuity was warped into the New 52, and the New 52 then reverted back to a Post-Crisis/New 52 composite continuity? Both the New 52 continuation of Post-Crisis Billy and the post-Rebirth composite Billy are- and always have been- Shazam in universe.
It’s not technically wrong, I suppose. The Shazam of New 52 was a new iteration of Billy and other iterations based on Fawcett/the Marvel Family did keep their name as their continuities changed. But the main Billy was turned into Shazam, not Captain Marvel, and now he’s Shazam in pre-Flashpoint history, presumably.
Even if you could stretch and say it didn’t count because he was a different Billy (even though though were both the main continuity Billy at different points in continuity), that Post-Crisis iteration has now been wrapped into Shazam, so retroactively, it has been changed.
Interesting, but it seems like in a practical sense for most DC stories people consume, they’re pretty much the same. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an adaption of anything DC in live action or animation in which Shazam and Captain Marvel were not the same person.
Shazam is an app that I identify music with it.
And Super Mario Bros 2 isnt Super Mario Bros 2 at all but a game called Doki Doki Panic!
Just accept that ”Yea we couldn’t call him the brand name of our biggest rivals without a lawsuit” and move on.
Marvel can’t create ‘Captain DC’ for a Washinton,DC based character also! …yes, it is not a fair trade but that’s litigation for you and ‘trademarks’ etc.
Insert “yeah I ain’t reading all that…” meme
That’s just too much effort when I could simply read any Captain Marvel/ Shazam story and in my own brain he’s just Captain Marvel. No harm, no foul. Super hero comics are better without all the mental gymnastics. I’ve always just wanted good stories.
So Shazam is just a variant of Captain Marvel from a different earth?
I completely agree. If you change the core of a character it’s not the same character.
Makes a lot of sense
It was cause of marvel sued. I remember when this happen. Marvel didnt think it was right for dc to have a hero that was named marvel anything in the name. It was also round that time they rebranded miss marvel as captain marvel.
I mean the problem is still that the name of the character can’t be used in the title of the film.
And the BIG issue is that DC doesn’t want a Captain Marvel when Marvel are selling a film called Captain Marvel.
The name was changed because they don’t have the trademark. The reason they’ve flip flopped in the comics is because nobody really likes the change.
He was created by Fawcett Comics before Marvel existed.
Thank you for this update, especially trademark / name at the end.
The amount of reaching would give plastic man a struggle!
Didn’t the Shazam rename take place before the new 52 though?
Nah it’s the same
I wish they would just go out and say It, “We can’t keep selling a character with oir main competitor’s name!”.
Yeah, I refuse to call him Shazam. He’s the one and only captain marvel.
Because that’s not confusing at all.
Bruh they’re the same character. Literally both are named Billy Batson who are foster children given powers of the different gods coinciding with the acronym S.H.A.Z.A.M. from a wizard at the Rock of Eternity. When they say the word Shazam they turn into a man with a costume similar to Superman but red with gold accents, a lightning bolt on the front, and a white robe like character. They literally have the same supporting characters such as Tawky Tawny, Freddy Freeman, and his sister Mary Batson. We see them face off against the same rogues (Sivana), there’s something involving the seven deadly sins, etc.
It’s the same character. It’s a rename. As much as I hate it and no matter what the character will always be Captain Marvel to me, but DC renamed the character in the new 52.
I hate this change because it makes no sense why his superhero name would be the code word used to transform between identities. Like imagine this scenario:
Shazam: *saves children from burning building in his first public appearance as a hero*
News Reporter: “What should we call you?”
Shazam: “you can call me Shazam” *then all of a sudden a lightning bolt strikes revealing hsi identity on live television*
This is one of the wildest misunderstandings of how things work that I’ve ever seen.
I believe when the character was brought back Marvel had created their Captain Marvel character and because the name wasn’t registered DC had to give their hero a new name.
They changed the name because of Marvel. DC having a superhero named after their biggest competitor just wasnt going to work.
Any other PR spin DC try use is silly.
Well, he’s kinda still named Billy Batson, wears an extremely similar costume, has largely the same abilities, changes between the two personas in the same way, got his powers the same way, and even retained many supporting characters and villains, so it’s a pretty massive stretch to claim any of this. He’s a new iteration of the same character.
The Batman of today is very different from the Batman of 1939, but I wouldn’t say that DC created a brand new character. I’d say the character went through some reinventions over the years, and the same thing has happened to Billy Batson.
I read that they negotiated a deal with Marvel and in that deal they gave Marvel exclusive rights to call their Captain Marvel by the name. So, the DC Captain Marvel now has to go by Shazam. The two companies squabbled over this one for years. Not sure why DC finally gave up the rights, but I know they got something out of the negotiations.
saadahye
![[Other] Shazam is not Captain Marvel Renamed. Shazam is a new, different character!](https://external-preview.redd.it/188NhHPrlYVPBlybS-J4hjVzXd0wuHOwwA47lD0WlGE.jpg?auto=webp&v=enabled&s=1b4b3362597f524c4cdcd23e56f8bd94d5ba2efb "[Other] Shazam is not Captain Marvel Renamed. Shazam is a new, different character! 1")
I mean, its the same character…
They just rebooted him and decided to change the name for brand synergy. None of the current versions of DCs characters are the same characters as their golden age counter parts in-universe. They just took advantage of the fact that a bunch of their characters were getting new origins or rebooted continuities to change the name. The current Shazam is no more a ‘new’ character than Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman.
This is just about where you draw the lines between “same character”, “different version of a character” and “different character.” It’s not always clear-cut or definitive, but I’d still go with “different version” in this case.
Are the modern version of batman, superman and wonder woman different character from the originals since they have deviated significantly from their creation?
BIG Red Semantics
By that logic, DC has no Batman, or Superman, or Wonder Woman, or Flash, or Green Lantern, they just rebooted them.
Sounds like a “reach”
New Version, sure, an “entirely new entity?” No
Same basic costume, same basic powers, same basic origin (right?)
I stopped reading but do both versions ever interact or one just stays on his Earth S?
This is like saying post crisis superman is a different character from pre crisis as they’re very different characters. Plus the modern shazam’s earliest origins can be seen in jlu where they had captain marvel just be Billy batson in an adult body
“They’re different characters, they just have nearly the same costume, powers, origin, and alter ego” Shazam is 100% Captain Marvel but with a different name. They just changed his name for any number of branding reasons.
Whoever wrote this needs to touch some god damn grass
Love this character but hate how wasted he’s been. Could easily be DC cinematic foothold as far as the movies are concerned, and he’s such a fun character to read about in the comics.
I’ve always loved the Captain Marvel name and hated the change to Shazam.
I know nothing else really changed but I still think it’s lame af.
This is the most Thermian of arguments. You really have to turn off your brain to buy into it. Also, the New 52 doesn’t exist, the Rebirth timeline is a hybrid of the post-Crisis and post-Flashpoint continuity, so the Captain Marvel in that isn’t strictly this one.
It’s silly to have a comic character that can’t even say his own name without turning back into a non-powered kid.
Bad Guy: “Oh look it’s the Big Red Cheese himself!”
Shazam: “That’s SHAZAM to y- (BOOM) aww crap..” (Bad Guy punches Billy Batson in the chest, liquifying his organs)
New to comics or just new to reboots?
I really wish that DC, when they realized they couldn’t properly trademark Captain Marvel back in the 70s, had just renamed him Captain Thunder (or something else that was available) to avoid handicapping the character like this.
BS.
It’ll never happen, but it would be wonderful if Marvel/Disney would let DC/WB use the title Captain Marvel, so we can do away with all this “Shazam is his name?” bullshit. He’s Captain Marvel but due to copyright that can’t be the title of his book.
Doesn’t make any sense. They’re the same character just branded with a different name.
Yeah sure, if you exclude everything that has Billy Batson called Shazam
Uh…. and THE Batman’s name is now Batman.
Big whoop.
Holy pedantry, Batman!
Well whoever originally posted this was just stretching.
Earth-S (Pre-Crisis), Earth-5 (Post-Crisis), and Earth 5 (Post-Flashpoint) are all based on the original Fawcett history of the character and so they keep that original name.
What about the main continuity? Post-Crisis continuity was warped into the New 52, and the New 52 then reverted back to a Post-Crisis/New 52 composite continuity? Both the New 52 continuation of Post-Crisis Billy and the post-Rebirth composite Billy are- and always have been- Shazam in universe.
It’s not technically wrong, I suppose. The Shazam of New 52 was a new iteration of Billy and other iterations based on Fawcett/the Marvel Family did keep their name as their continuities changed. But the main Billy was turned into Shazam, not Captain Marvel, and now he’s Shazam in pre-Flashpoint history, presumably.
Even if you could stretch and say it didn’t count because he was a different Billy (even though though were both the main continuity Billy at different points in continuity), that Post-Crisis iteration has now been wrapped into Shazam, so retroactively, it has been changed.
Interesting, but it seems like in a practical sense for most DC stories people consume, they’re pretty much the same. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an adaption of anything DC in live action or animation in which Shazam and Captain Marvel were not the same person.
Shazam is an app that I identify music with it.
And Super Mario Bros 2 isnt Super Mario Bros 2 at all but a game called Doki Doki Panic!
Just accept that ”Yea we couldn’t call him the brand name of our biggest rivals without a lawsuit” and move on.
Marvel can’t create ‘Captain DC’ for a Washinton,DC based character also! …yes, it is not a fair trade but that’s litigation for you and ‘trademarks’ etc.
Insert “yeah I ain’t reading all that…” meme
That’s just too much effort when I could simply read any Captain Marvel/ Shazam story and in my own brain he’s just Captain Marvel. No harm, no foul. Super hero comics are better without all the mental gymnastics. I’ve always just wanted good stories.
So Shazam is just a variant of Captain Marvel from a different earth?
I completely agree. If you change the core of a character it’s not the same character.
Makes a lot of sense
It was cause of marvel sued. I remember when this happen. Marvel didnt think it was right for dc to have a hero that was named marvel anything in the name. It was also round that time they rebranded miss marvel as captain marvel.
I mean the problem is still that the name of the character can’t be used in the title of the film.
And the BIG issue is that DC doesn’t want a Captain Marvel when Marvel are selling a film called Captain Marvel.
The name was changed because they don’t have the trademark. The reason they’ve flip flopped in the comics is because nobody really likes the change.
He was created by Fawcett Comics before Marvel existed.
Thank you for this update, especially trademark / name at the end.
The amount of reaching would give plastic man a struggle!
Didn’t the Shazam rename take place before the new 52 though?
Nah it’s the same
I wish they would just go out and say It, “We can’t keep selling a character with oir main competitor’s name!”.
Yeah, I refuse to call him Shazam. He’s the one and only captain marvel.
Because that’s not confusing at all.
Bruh they’re the same character. Literally both are named Billy Batson who are foster children given powers of the different gods coinciding with the acronym S.H.A.Z.A.M. from a wizard at the Rock of Eternity. When they say the word Shazam they turn into a man with a costume similar to Superman but red with gold accents, a lightning bolt on the front, and a white robe like character. They literally have the same supporting characters such as Tawky Tawny, Freddy Freeman, and his sister Mary Batson. We see them face off against the same rogues (Sivana), there’s something involving the seven deadly sins, etc.
It’s the same character. It’s a rename. As much as I hate it and no matter what the character will always be Captain Marvel to me, but DC renamed the character in the new 52.
I hate this change because it makes no sense why his superhero name would be the code word used to transform between identities. Like imagine this scenario:
Shazam: *saves children from burning building in his first public appearance as a hero*
News Reporter: “What should we call you?”
Shazam: “you can call me Shazam” *then all of a sudden a lightning bolt strikes revealing hsi identity on live television*
This is one of the wildest misunderstandings of how things work that I’ve ever seen.
I believe when the character was brought back Marvel had created their Captain Marvel character and because the name wasn’t registered DC had to give their hero a new name.
They changed the name because of Marvel. DC having a superhero named after their biggest competitor just wasnt going to work.
Any other PR spin DC try use is silly.
Well, he’s kinda still named Billy Batson, wears an extremely similar costume, has largely the same abilities, changes between the two personas in the same way, got his powers the same way, and even retained many supporting characters and villains, so it’s a pretty massive stretch to claim any of this. He’s a new iteration of the same character.
The Batman of today is very different from the Batman of 1939, but I wouldn’t say that DC created a brand new character. I’d say the character went through some reinventions over the years, and the same thing has happened to Billy Batson.
I read that they negotiated a deal with Marvel and in that deal they gave Marvel exclusive rights to call their Captain Marvel by the name. So, the DC Captain Marvel now has to go by Shazam. The two companies squabbled over this one for years. Not sure why DC finally gave up the rights, but I know they got something out of the negotiations.