Okay, massive Captain Marvel rant coming in
3 . . . .
2 . . . .
1 . . . .
Batgirl III wrote: ↑Tue Jun 12, 2018 9:28 am
The thing that I think most writers forget about Captain Marvel is that he isn't a naive kid, sure he's incredibly pure and incorruptible, but he's not Pollyanna. Billy is a streetwise survivor and Cap posses the friggin' Wisdom of Solomon. Way too many depictions of Captain Marvel that would otherwise be really enjoyable (
Young Justice Season Two, anyone?) fall apart because the write Captain Marvel like a goofy kid and write Billy like a dweeb.
I'll admit, my preferred take on the Wisdom was the way Winick portrayed it: it essentially functions as a mystical database of knowledge on magic, the supernatural world, mythology, history and tactics, as well as a language translator and a few other little odds and ends like detecting magic, seeing through illusions/shapeshifting, etc.. It essentially gives Billy all of the information he needs to make an informed decision, but the decision is ultimately up to Billy. That seemed like the best way to keep Billy Batson in the drivers seat without the Wisdom changing his personality, way better than Johns portrayal where Solomon is actively speaking in Billy and Mary's heads.
Other than that,
YES.
THANK YOU. I've been saying that for years, and most recently on a CBR thread about Cap, and half the people there think I'm nuts apparently.
Ironically, Johns likely thinks he's showing what a street smart, non-naive Billy would be like, but to do that he had to come up with a completely different character who is this incredibly emo-punktard asshole that is unrecognizable as Billy Batson. Conversely, other writers make Billy out to be incredibly naive and kind of dumb, writing the character like he was straight out of the Silver Age, ignoring that Cap skipped the Silver Age entirely.
With Billy, the idea is that the Wizard waited 5,000 years to pick someone who would not be corrupted by their power, who would have the humility to turn back into their mortal form and never lose touch with their humanity, and whose empathy and compassion for others would never allow that person to feel he was better than everyone else. And in all that time, only Billy measured up to Shazam's ideals. Not because he was destined for it, or because he's "The Chosen One". Billy doesn't need any trials to confirm that he's worthy of the power and the mission.
Billy's trials where his life. A life where his parents were killed (murdered in most cases), he lost his sister, and then the person who was suppose to take care of him swindled him out of his inheritance and left Billy a homeless orphan. Billy then spent several years living alone on the streets. Billy is amazingly aware of how cruel the world is, and what its like to lose everything.
But that's the point. Billy lost everything . . . except his compassion, empathy, his sense of humor, his morality and humanity. When the world breaks people down, they tend to do one of two things. They either focus solely on themselves, their own pain and suffering, or they look outwards and recognize that other people are suffering the same as they are, maybe worse. That doesn't make the first group bad, it just means that they become focused on their own survival, which is rational. If taken too far, it can lead to some selfish behavior and personality disorders. With the latter, you see things like people opening charities to aid others in similar circumstances, who become more willing to help others, etc.
Billy should be the ultimate example of the person who connects with people. He makes friends easy because he has genuine empathy for them. He doesn't see himself as better than anyone because he sees everyone as an equal. He doesn't use his bad situation as an excuse to lash out at others or to be bitter or cruel. To paraphrase a great line I found on the
Incredible Hulk writeups.org page many moons ago, "[Billy] is unwilling to allow his circumstances make him a worse person". Billy is optimistic about the world because even at its worst, he's seen the human spirit endure, seen people who don't have a lot share with each other, everyone suffering a little so that no one has to suffer a lot, or alone. He has hope for the future because he believes everyone has the ability to rise above a bad situation and treat those around them like brothers and sisters.
Basically, take everything everyone likes about movie Captain America, the fact that he was chosen for his good character, his idealism but awareness of the world's cruelty, his desire to be a good person, his compassion and empathy for others, and combine that with Spider-Man's sense of humor and ability to relate to people.
When Optimus Prime and Superman show up, people are often in awe, like this great figure of myth has shown up to save them danger, and their relief is palpable. With Captain Marvel, the feeling should be more like your big brother, the one you admire and love, the one that takes you eat pizza when mom and dad are out of town, the one who read comics with you and played video games with you, has shown up to teach the bullies a lesson. The relief is the same, but there's more of a comforting knowledge with it, a warmth and joy unique to Cap.
That's the thing everyone who writes the character needs to understand: Billy Batson is the hero. Captain Marvel is just Billy Batson with the power to affect positive change on the world. As he said in Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam "The only thing [the power] changes is that I can choose my own fate now". And Billy Batson chooses to be a hero. If Billy were written as competently as, say, the average Robin, there'd be no issue. Captain Marvel would then just be Billy with more raw power and acting slightly more seriously, but still being the same optimistic, friendly, good hearted guy we all know and love.