Shazam! Fury of the Gods‘ will see Zachary Levi return as Shazam, after having first appeared as the DC superhero in the 2019 movie of the same name. In ‘Shazam!’, Levi’s character, who’s actually a young boy named Billy Batson, gets his powers from a powerful wizard, Shazam. 

The character’s name is actually an acronym with each letter referring to six ancient heroes, whose powers he possesses. They are Solomon (wisdom), Hercules (strength), Atlas (stamina), Zeus (power), Achilles (courage) and Mercury (speed). 

Saying “Shazam” turns Batson into the hero. The character initially went by the name “Captain Marvel” and appeared in Whiz Comics, which was published by Fawcett Comics, a rival of DC Comics. The latter sued the former saying Captain Marvel infringed on their Superman copyright, considering Shazam’s powers were similar to the Man of Steel. 

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Fawcett went out of business and Captain Marvel was forgotten for while, during which time Marvel sensed a chance and created their own Captain Marvel character – trademarking the name. 

Meanwhile, DC first licensed the character and then purchased him outright, but by then Captain Mar-vell was doing rather well as a Marvel comic, prompting DC to use the word “Shazam” in all their releases. 

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In 2012, Captain Marvel officially took on the name Shazam. The inclusion of Atlas’ power becomes relevant in the upcoming movie since Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu play Hespera and Kalypso, his daughters, who appear to be disgruntled at the fact that children have stolen the powers of the gods. 

The other children in Batson’s house also gain the powers of Shazam and get drawn into the fight against the gods, which eventually threatens the fate of the world. 

‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ released its trailer at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con and the movie is slated to release on December 21.