WARNING: The following contains mild spoilers for Future State: Shazam! #1, by Tim Sheridan, Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, Marcelo Maiolo and Rob Leigh, on sale Jan. 18.
As DC's new event, Future State, reverberates throughout the multiverse, Shazam will put together a team of major and minor heroes for his personal Justice League.
In an interview with CBR, writer Tim Sheridan dove deep into how Shazam's Future State team came together. "The team is the Justice League of America, although it's really more like Justice League Detroit," Sheridan said. "Shazam is the 'Big Cheese,' the head of the outfit. The Question is there, and he comes with a lot of, well, questions. Identity is a big theme in Future State: Shazam, and we explore that not just with Shazam but with the other characters as well. Vixen is there, and so is Miss Martian. Bunker is on the team, and he'll also be showing up in Teen Titans Academy.
"The inclusion of Vixen was actually my editor, Mike Cotton's idea," Sheridan continued. "When we started this thing, there was a completely different Justice League team. In fact, when we first started, the Question was Batman. Because of where things are set in the timeline of Future State, certain characters became unavailable because of whatever they were doing at the time when my stories are taking place. So we had to adapt."
"Vixen was originally going to be Wonder Woman. This was initially more of a 'standard' Justice League set-up. It wasn't Justice League Detroit, it was the Justice League of America. and the idea, in the beginning, was that Superman was gone and Shazam filled the role. That was one of the founding ideas behind the series. But like everything, that idea evolved and the story became about something a lot different and a lot bigger than just that. Where we ended up going was not what the story was originally going to be."
"I really like the way we use Vixen in the story. She's cautious and observant and is caught between two opposing ideas while trying to figure out what is going on and how to best move forward. Vixen really shines here, and I believe that she is destined at some point to inherit the Justice League and become the leader of the team."
As for the ever-mysterious Question and who's under the mask, Sheridan said readers will enjoy the reveal. "I'm telling you right now, it's not who you think. That's all I'm going to say. He's the Question, and I think everyone should have the same question about him that Shazam has at the end of the issue: 'Who are you?'"
Future State: Shazam! #1, by Tim Sheridan, Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, Marcelo Maiolo and Rob Leigh, is now on sale from DC.