WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Future State: Shazam #1, by Tim Sheridan, Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, Marcelo Maiolo and Rob Leigh, on sale now.

Future State has reimagined and repositioned many of the DC Universe's biggest icons in radically different roles, with some heroes becoming significantly darker and more violent. Among the characters that have been changed the most after their own epic fall from grace is Shazam, with the Earth's Mightiest Mortal now estranged from the rest of the Shazam Family as he continues to defend the DCU under his own rules, including exercising lethal force when pushed far enough.

However, this more brutal Shazam hasn't just targeted traditional supervillains. As Future State: Shazam reveals, he may have killed two different heroes as he solidified his control.

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Shazam Creeper Future State

Rather than risk a mysterious, new prisoner escape from the Rock of Eternity, Billy Batson and Shazam opted to split into two separate beings, with Billy remaining behind with the Rock in Hell to guard its gateway while Shazam resumes defending the DCU back on Earth. Without being bonded to this young boy, Shazam loses his sense of humanity and innocence as he lacks Billy's grounding influence. No longer identifying himself as Billy, Shazam rejects his past identity as Billy, cuts off all contact with the rest of the Shazam Family and forms his own team to strike out at evil with a vengeance.

Shazam and his team rise after a cataclysmic disaster strikes Titans Island, balkanizing the DCU's young superhero community. At the helm of his new team, including an enigmatic, new Question and other familiar faces, the team leaps into action when a group of supervillains strikes Iron Heights Penitentiary in Central City to free one of their associates: the Creeper. Recognized as a citizen of Khandaq after his alliance with Black Adam during the maxi-series Doomsday Clock, the jailbreak is meant to free a perceived political prisoner. Shazam and his team stop the escape, with Creeper discovered killed in the immediate aftermath, apparently murdered with Shazam using his bare hands in the blink of an eye.

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Shazam Kills Thunderbolt

As the horrified team watches this alleged murder of the security footage recorded back at Iron Heights from the safety of their headquarters, the Question drops another bombshell revelation as the evidence mounts against Shazam: The Earth's Mightiest Mortal may have killed Jakeem Thunder and Thunderbolt -- seemingly confirmed in a shadowy showdown with the hero over fears of his Jakeem's magical lightning -- along with one of this faceless vigilante's predecessors. Without revealing their identity, Shazam notes that Vic Sage is locked away in Arkham Asylum, Renee Montoya's whereabouts are unknown and a third Question named Drake was killed personally by Shazam, potentially for the same line of constant probing and doubt that his successor is showing.

From the looks of things, Shazam's newfound autonomy from Billy Batson has made him more deadly and unpredictable than ever. While presumably still fighting for good, Shazam will go through murderous lengths to maintain the secret of what truly happened to his alter ego and not risk whatever is trapped in the Rock of Eternity from escaping. And while this includes anyone that threatens that secret, Shazam has also apparently progressed to employing capital punishment against his enemies, even former allies that have broken bad and trying to escape from the long arm of the law. And far more than just the leader of a new team, Shazam has positioned himself as judge, jury and executioner.

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