WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Shazam #4, now on sale

Shazam has found himself in a difficult time lately, contending with his faltering powers and his inability to save Freddy Freeman, one his best friends. But it turns out he's been accidentally on a far darker path, which could have universal ramifications.

In Shazam #4 by Tim Sheridan, Clayton Henry, Marcelo Maiolo, and Rob Leigh, the titular hero learns about the potential hellish fate teased for the DC Universe in Future State -- and it might already be too late to fully prevent it.

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Shazam Black Adam 1

Future State teased plenty of dark events that could befall the heroes and villains of the DC Universe. This includes some potentially devastating turns for the Teen Titans and many of their allies, with the long-running undercurrent of the Unkindness being one of DC's most dangerous potential threats. In the era of Future State, the Four Horsemen broke free of hell and brought pain and death across the globe. Possessing the bodies of four notable heroes (including Wally West), they destroyed Titans Tower and killed many of the heroes present in the process. The final effort to contain them fell to the last Titans, including Raven. Raven absorbed their evil into herself but lost control as a result, and Shazam was forced to trap Raven within the Rock of Eternity for safekeeping.

Sadly, the Shazam of Future State made numerous bad decisions and mistakes, which in turn allowed Neron access to the Rock. By the time he unleashed Raven, she'd been fully corrupted by the darkness within her. Transformed into the Unkindness, Raven soon brought chaos to the entire DC Universe. By the era of DC One Million, the Unkindness was able to defeat Golden Superman and wipe out almost all remaining strands of the universe. The last hope of stopping her was the Black Adam of this period, who jettisoned himself into the past in a bid to stop Raven before she ever became the Unkindness -- in part to save the Wonder Woman of that era, who was pregnant with his child.

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Shazam Hell Future State Tease

These truths are revealed in Shazam #5, with the hero's adventure into hell alongside his friend Dane being revealed to all be part of Neron's plans to cause the birth of the Unkindness. Despite being a heroic student of the Titans Academy, Dane's status as the son of the devil means he has a lot of destructive potentials that could be unleashed -- and it appears his adventure into the underworld with Shazam may have awakened that dark side. Encountering the older Black Adam, Shazam learns about the events of Future State, and how it's ultimately partly his fault why that future was so dark. It turns out that Shazam's powers have been failing partly because of the presence of Black Adam, who is able to fully give them over to Shazam and re-empower him.

After coming to terms with his own limitations and the need to "grow up" -- especially in regards to his apparent inability to save Freddy -- Billy shares his power with Black Adam. The pair agree to work together to catch up to Dane and keep him from unleashing the Four Riders before they can spread true chaos to the world -- preventing the eventual birth of the Unkindness. But they have to hurry -- in New York, Dane has been found by the older Titans, but has been seemingly possessed by his dark destiny and wants to return to Titans Tower immediately. If he does so, it may be too late to stop the events that largely doomed the Titans and much of the world as a whole, and it'll ultimately be on the heads of the Wizard's chosen champions.

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