Top 10 Most Powerful Shazam Moments
#10: A Worthy Champion
“Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam” (2010) A short film centered on a three-way showdown between three of DC’s heaviest hitters? You’d think Billy Batson would have trouble keeping up in his first-ever fight, but you’d be wrong. In an abridged origin story of sorts, Billy is confronted by Black Adam who tries to keep the Wizard Shazam from imbuing him with his powers. However, thanks to the intervention of Superman, this happens anyway. Billy is admittedly a little shaky out the gate, but he ultimately finds his groove as Adam’s ruthlessness incenses him. Superman is thankfully able to talk Billy out of giving into his rage, but based on what we’d already seen, we know he was just realizing a fraction of his full potential.
#9: Sending Blaze to Hell
“Shazam! Vol. 2 #1” (2011) Now let’s switch over to a longtime supporting player in the comics, Freddy Freeman. At this point, Freddy has inherited the mantle of Shazam. However, this doesn’t sit well with the demon Blaze, daughter of the Wizard Shazam. In a ploy to get Freddy’s powers, Blaze tries to manipulate Mary Batson into killing him in exchange for restoring her own powers. Mary seemingly does this, only to reveal she and Freddy were working together. Blaze admittedly has Freddy beat at one point, prompting a save from the powerless Mary and Billy, but it’s what Freddy does next that’s really impressive. He flies her into the air only to chuck her down and impale her on a statue before zapping her back to Hell.
#8: Defending Harley Quinn Against Black Adam
“Injustice: Ground Zero Vol. 1 #6” (2017) You had to have known Black Adam would appear on this list at least a few times, but you may not have expected who gets caught in the crosshairs. In this comic book prequel to the fighting game, Superman establishes a totalitarian Regime after the Joker kills his family. This forces heroes and villains alike to pick a side, and one picking Team Supes is none other than Black Adam. The subset limited series “Ground Zero” is told from Harley Quinn’s perspective, who at one point is accosted by the Mighty Adam. This doesn’t sit well with Shazam, who intervenes in a smackdown fight with a flurry of lightning. Needless to say, he earns Harley’s affections, and we can’t exactly blame her.
#7: Making Superman Bleed
“Justice League Vol. 2 #22” (2013) There’s only a handful of metahumans whose powers rival those of Shazam. Superman is the most obvious do-gooder parallel, so you gotta know DC would have them duke it out on more than one occasion. In this issue, Shazam travels to Kahndaq to spread the ashes of his mortal enemy Black Adam. Trouble is, the Kahndaqi military isn’t pleased with his presence and opens fire, destroying Adam’s urn. This deeply upsets Shazam, who quickly takes it out on an incoming Superman trying to deescalate the situation. While it’s not clear in this particular issue, a preview from a preceding one does indeed show Supes shedding blood from this attack, which is no easy feat.
#6: The Strength of Hercules
“Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Four Vol. 1 #7” (2015) Another entry from the “Injustice” run, this one sees Shazam go up against another powerhouse, the Olympian god Hercules. Of course, if you know your comics history, then you know “Shazam” is actually an acronym standing for each of the six gods he draws power from. And if our superhero math is right, six gods are more powerful than one. When Hercules has Wonder Woman in his grasp, Shazam intervenes. While Shazam gets his “S” from the “Strength” of Hercules, he shows there’s a lot more to power than pure strength. He zaps Hercules’s head like a defibrillator, putting him down and out. And while Shazam refuses to end the Greek hero, Superman is more than happy to oblige.
#5: Creating the Shazam Family
“Shazam!” (2019) Origin stories in superhero movies are all about establishing your main hero. But boy were we glad that the character’s DCEU debut got around to introducing the rest of the Shazam family. In the movie’s third act, the evil Dr. Sivana, powered by the Seven Deadly Sins, comes after Billy demanding he relinquish his powers else he harms Billy’s foster siblings. Billy in a way does exactly what Sivana says, only he gives powers to his siblings directly, transforming them into Shazam-like heroes, too. Together, the six of them are able to defeat Sivana and his sins, proving power can be most effective when it’s shared with the people you trust the most.
#4: Destroying Yuga Khan’s Sword
“Justice League: The Darkseid War: Shazam! Vol. 1 #1” (2016) Contrary to this issue’s title, Darkseid has already been defeated at this point. However, in comes his father Yuga Khan to continue the New God’s campaign. Meanwhile, Billy suddenly finds himself cut off from the six gods, their powers replaced by those of five different gods. This causes quite a crisis for Billy, but he doesn’t have time to overthink it when Yuga Khan takes the Wizard’s staff. But Khan gets a wakeup call when he learns it doesn’t give him the powers, and Shazam instead uses it as a lightning rod. To add insult to injury, Shazam shatters Khan’s mystical sword like it was nothing before bringing the thunder down on the New God himself.
#3: Sacrificing Himself
“Kingdom Come Vol. 1 #4” (1996) The “Kingdom Come” miniseries is one of the most celebrated in DC Comics, and this climactic bout between Superman and Captain Marvel definitely lives up to that standard. At this point, Captain Marvel has been brainwashed by Lex Luthor. Knowing Superman is vulnerable to magic, Captain Marvel barrages Supes with endless lightning attacks in a sheer display of dominance. Superman is eventually able to keep Billy in his human form and talk him down, but that’s not where Captain Marvel’s display of strength ends. He outraces Superman in a mission to intercept a superhuman-killing bomb. Not everyone is saved, but Captain Marvel still displays the strength and selflessness to do what is right.
#2: Channeling Mystics
“Day of Vengeance Vol. 1 3” (2005) Speaking of brainwashing, this time it’s Captain Marvel’s turn to go up against a hero not in their right mind, namely, the Spectre. Already the Spirit of Vengeance, Spectre is liable to give Captain Marvel a tough time whatever the circumstances. But thankfully, the latter gets a power boost in the form of Enchantress. The magic user is able to channel the abilities of every mystical person on the planet and transfer the energy into Captain Marvel. This makes him so overpowered that we’d be liable to give this the top spot, were he not to ultimately lose the fight. Indeed, Enchantress is unable to hold her focus, bringing Captain Marvel back down to size. But boy is it cool while it lasts.
#1: Creating a Quantum Singularity
“Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil Vol. 1 #4” (2007) This version of Captain Marvel may look more cutesy, but his power levels go off the freaking charts in this issue. In a bid to rescue Mary, Billy enters a robot designed by the evil worm, Mister Mind. However, Billy eventually realizes he can’t do it as himself, transforming back into Captain Marvel. The mystical lightning combines with the mysticism inherent in the robots, resulting in a giant Captain Marvel. As if that wasn’t enough, one of Captain Marvel’s blows is powerful enough to literally create a black hole. Of course, this creates its own issues, but how many times can you say that a superhero punched so hard they tore a hole in the fabric of space?