Billy Batson became one of the most popular DC characters in the world after Zachary Levi's portrayal of Shazam, who is also one of the strongest superheroes in DC Universe. There's no reason to hate him because he is not only involved in breathtaking storylines, but he is also incredibly funny and fun to hang out with.

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While the story of him being abandoned by his mother is really sad, Billy himself doesn't really take things very seriously, and after inheriting his abilities from a powerful wizard, who can really blame him? Still, there are a lot of things fans (who haven't read the comics) don't know about Billy Batson's Shazam, and here are ten fun facts about him.

Though the name is currently associated to a famous Avenger, Captain Marvel didn't pop up in Marvel Comics first. Instead, Captain Marvel was Shazam's original title when he still called Fawcett Publications home.

Previously, DC managed to sue the Fawcett because they felt Captain Marvel was too similar to their poster boy Superman. Following this, Fawcett stopped printing Captain Marvel comics and sold his rights to DC. To avoid a legal clash with Marvel Comics because of the name Captain Marvel (the name of both a hero and the company), DC rebranded the superhero under the name of Shazam.

9 Marvel Comics Has Its Own Shazam

It's so hard to find a wholly original superhero these days, especially after Marvel and DC began their feud on who published the best superhero tales by taking generally ubiquitous concepts but tweaking them to fit their own styles and universe. One such occurrence happened when a publication in Britain decided to write a comic book depicting a superhero who goes by the name of Marvelman.

It turns out that this Marvelman has too many similarities to Shazam, right down to being a kid who becomes a powerful being by saying a magic word. In the end, Marvel Comics decided to buy the rights of Marvelman and now they have someone quite similar to Shazam. Marvelman has since been rebranded as Miracleman but unlike Shazam, Miracleman is a darker take on the same concept.

8 Shazam Got A Universe Of His Own

Captain Marvel on Earth S in DC Comics

This may not sound like much, but Shazam getting his own parallel universe had to be done by DC after they purchased the rights of Captain Marvel. This was because the superhero himself had too many similarities to Superman and at the time, the writers didn't want the two to clash and confuse readers by accident.

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After renaming Captain Marvel to Shazam, Billy Batson (plus his allies, enemies, and other Fawcett Comics characters) was given an entirely original universe called Earth-S; one in which he existed as Earth's mightiest savior. This universe had a lot of stories and adventures but following Crisis on Infinite Earths, Shazam and his associated characters were brought over to the mainline DC Universe.

7 Shazam Is Practically A God

The reason why Shazam is one of the strongest - if not the strongest - in the DC Universe is because of the fact that he possesses the powers of different gods. Because he is a mythical, magical being, he has a lot of tools in his locker that help him against his various enemies.

He has superhuman strength, incredible speed both on the ground and in the air, and to top it all off, he can even share his powers. Because he's almost literally a god among men, Shazam can stand against almost any DC supervillain and superhero.

6 Stargirl Had An Awkward Crush On Shazam

This is such an interesting storyline involving Shazam. Back when he joined The Justice Society of America, Shazam didn't reveal his real identity to the group so to all of them, he was an adult man. Now Stargirl, who was a teenager, developed a crush on Shazam and every member of the group felt like this was heading in an inappropriate direction.

Then, out of necessity, Shazam revealed his identity. Obviously, when the young Billy Batson appeared in front of everyone, they were pretty much shocked and Stargirl felt a bit awkward.

5 The Shazam Family Is The First Super Family To Ever Exist

The Shazam Family found difficulty finding common ground with one another.

Shazam (or Captain Marvel back then) was the first superhero to have himself a superhero family, which means the people he cared about were all superheroes who fought alongside him. The Marvel Family (now referred to as the Shazam Family) appeared in the movie's grand finale. Minus a few notable changes between film and comic, the family's core concept remained intact.

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It should be noted that this was the very first superfamily to come into existence. Not a single comic book publication ever thought of this before Shazam. As early as the '40s, each member of the family had their own spin-off comics and adventures.

4 Shazam Fought Superman To Get Into The DC Universe

Following some lackluster solo adventures on the parallel Earth-S, the decision was made to bring Shazam into the main DC Universe where he would initially fight Superman. After years of speculation, DC finally pit Superman against Shazam in this exclusive storyline to settle the score, and this duel lived up to expectations.

But before Shazam came up against Superman, a man called Captain Thunder faced the Man of Steel. This Captain Thunder also had too many familiarities to Shazam. After that storyline was wrapped up, Shazam was formally integrated into the DC Universe.

3 Black Adam Can Be Shazam's Archenemy Or Ally

Black Adam With Lightning Coming Out Of His Eyes And Fingers

Everyone who has watched Shazam! might have heard of the name Black Adam (who's set to be portrayed by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), even if he didn't appear in the DCEU just yet. This mighty superhero was selected as heir to the power but when he developed dark intentions, he was banished from the Earth for 5000 years.

He then returned and wanted to make up for the lost time. Thus, he became Shazam's arch-enemy but Black Adam grew up to become more of an anti-hero than a villain. He has good in his heart but he believes justice has a harsh cost, whereas Shazam is willing to give diplomacy and peace a chance. This difference in ideologies didn't stop the two from joining forces, though.

2 Shazam Is The Youngest Justice League Member

After Shazam was brought into the DC Universe following the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, as expected, he took his place among The Justice League. From there, he would help Earth's mightiest champions against the likes of Darkseid, Anti-Monitor, and more of their world-ending colleagues.

Since Shazam is really a young Billy Batson living in the body of an adult superhero, this (by default) makes him the youngest member to ever join Justice League. Don't count Billy out though; he has a lot of history and experience in the superhero business despite his young age.

1 Shazam & His Friendly Tiger

This is very interesting and not many people would know about it. In the original Captain Marvel comics, Billy Batson came to know a highly intelligent tiger from India, who soon became his best friend and took part in most of his adventures. In the current Shazam comics, the tiger returns but his story was changed a bit.

A stuffed tiger called Tawky Tawny became alive (thanks to magic, of course) and only Shazam and his family could see him. The tiger's origin story was a bit different but he exhibited the same characteristics. He had a humane presence about him; he could talk, he could walk, and he was very intelligent.

NEXT: DC: 5 Marvel Villains Shazam Would Get Along With (& 5 He Would Hate)