#tanist

[ether-here-or-there]

To @thefantasmarex and other Cap adopts Kon AU enjoyers

I just thought something, Captain Marvel isn’t an inherited title. In the OG comics and still in a lot of later ones it’s specifically a chosen one thing, we know that with Billy, but his entire family is honorary members and titles passed between close friends and family specifically to share the power. Not pass it on.

Billy has 3 potential candidates for succession depending on canons; The original being BillBat from the 30th century, Power of Shazam’s CeCe Beck from the 90th century, and Tanist of the 853rd century in the DC 1,000,000 comics.

(Pictures and more below the cut)

Only one is actually related to Billy, and that’s BillBat of earth, his distant descendant. CeCe is from Bindermann and Tanist is from Mercury, both having stumbled into the RoE some how and have no prior relation.

No one in the current Marvel family as they know it is supposed to usurp Billy or replace him, he’s supposed to take the Wizards mantle fully later on in life and wait until his successor is old enough to inherit his power. Billy has to live to see that day, weather it’s 1,000 or 7,000 or 83,000 years into the future, he has to make it to pass the torch to the next being Pure of Heart and Strong of Spirit.

There is no replacing Marvel in the modern day, no keeping his name alive till the next guy needed, Conner has no expected inheritance or standards if he’s taken in as a member of the Marvel family. He can be whatever he wants as long as he’s a good person, he could wear his symbol and call himself Junior or another Lieutenant Marvel but he doesn’t have to.

There has to be a Superman once Clark’s gone, he’s too much of a symbol to fade, he means too much. But in a way Marvel doesn’t, and it’s not something bad or sad in context.

Being Captain Marvel is always shown as a thankless and isolating job, but one that has to be done to keep ancient evils at bay and the balance of Magic in order. That’s why Billy takes the job as Wizard only when Shazam dies, magic needs a warden but he doesn’t want that job right away, when he takes it he chooses Freddy as a champion to be Captain Marvel but they aren’t Shazam, he is. That’s what separates the Wizards champion, which is what Billy is, from the gods champions that his family is.

Conner has no expectation in his family, not because he isn’t good enough or because of a flaw in his upbringing, but because of a highly selective criteria for a job no one really wants.

[daydreamerdrew]

Captain Marvel helping the ancient hero Vlarem create the Rock of Eternity and realizing that he is the Wizard Shazam in World’s Finest Comics (1941) #262 (published April 1980; Pre-Crisis continuity)

Billy and the Wizard Shazam first meeting at the Rock of Eternity in Whiz Comics (1940) #2 (published February 1940; Pre-Crisis continuity)

Billy remembering his past upon seeing the young boy Tanist go through similar events in the 853rd century in The Power of Shazam! (1995) #1000000 (published November 1998; Post-Crisis continuity)

The Wizard Shazam showing Billy his past with the Historama in Whiz Comics (1940) #2 (published February 1940; Pre-Crisis continuity)

Billy using the Historama to understand how the young girl CeCe Beck came to the Rock of Eternity in the 90th century in The Power of Shazam! (1995) Annual #1 (published August 1996; Post-Crisis continuity)

The Wizard Shazam making Billy his champion and having him first transform by saying Shazam and giving him the name Captain Marvel in Whiz Comics (1940) #2 (published February 1940; Pre-Crisis continuity)

Billy making Cece Beck his champion and having her first transform by saying Captain Marvel in The Power of Shazam! (1995) Annual #1 (published August 1996; Post-Crisis continuity)

Billy making Tanist his champion and having him first transform by saying Captain Marvel in The Power of Shazam! (1995) #1000000 (published November 1998; Post-Crisis continuity)

The Wizard Shazam giving Billy the name Captain Marvel and briefly remembering the Pre-Crisis continuity before suppressing the memories in Shazam! The New Beginning (1987) #1 (published April 1987; Earth-85/retconned out of the Post-Crisis continuity)

The Wizard Shazam revealing that he chose the name Captain Marvel as an anagram of his own hero name Vlarem which he said to transform in World’s Finest Comics (1941) #262 (published April 1980; Pre-Crisis continuity)

[daydreamerdrew]

The Power of Shazam #1000000

[daydreamerdrew]

The Power of Shazam #1000000