Mary Marvel's Worst Nightmare Would Create Another Black Adam
Knight Terrors: Shazam reveals that Mary Marvel's greatest fear is Billy Batson following in Black Adam's footsteps in DC Comics.
Knight Terrors has been focused on the internal fears of DC's heroes and villains, set off by Insomnia's plan to locate the Nightmare Stone. Some important figures -- like Batman -- have done their best to overcome these challenges, confronting the threats locked deep within their minds. Others have been less confrontational and more accepting, with Poison Ivy and the Joker seemingly giving in to their new internal "homes." A few have even resisted the effects entirely, like Zatanna and Robotman.
However, a handful of DC heroes seem lost in their darkest fears. Mary Marvel's nightmare, which plays out across the course of Knight Terrors: Shazam #1 (by Mark Waid, Roger Cruz, Wellington Dias, Arif Prianto, and Troy Peteri), reimagines another DC hero as a major threat, introducing a version of Billy Batson who has become much more like Black Adam than his traditionally heroic incarnation. It's a stark reminder of how dangerous and powerful the hero can be when he's unleashed and recalls other times DC's heroes have unleashed their dark sides.
Mary Marvel's Worst Fear Is Billy Batson Becoming Another Black Adam
In her personal nightmare, Mary's attempts to save her family are constantly thwarted and undone by Billy Batson's Captain, who has abandoned his typically cheerful attitude and embraced a dark variation of his costume. Even compared to his vicious recent outbursts, this version of the Shazam is horrifying, willing to kill and eager to taunt his targets. Within the dream, this dark version of the former Captain Marvel attacks and repeatedly kills Mary and Billy's foster family. Although Mary's mystical wisdom allows her to eventually see through the illusion created by Insomnia, this only paints a bigger target on her back, leading to even worse versions of her nightmares.
As Mary descends further into her dream, the evil version of the Captain takes an even more ruthless approach toward breaking Mary. It turns out Mary's deepest nightmare includes a version of Billy Batson who fully adopts Black Adam's dark costume and ruthless mentality, building to a horrifying sequence where he rips the power of Shazam from each of their foster siblings one by one, reducing them to bone and ash in the process. It's a harrowing turn of events and highlights what may be the Shazam family's true worst-case scenario. The team that was once known as the Marvel Family is one of DC's most iconic family units but the fact is, they've always operated under the mercy of more powerful forces. The Wizard has revoked Shazam's power in the past, Black Adam has killed for power, past incarnations of Shazam have had to battle other champions of magic to win the gods' favor. The most horrifying thing about Mary's vision here is its realism. The Captain or any one of her siblings could be alienated from the family. They could be tempted by the power the others wield, or think that they need it for some greater purpose. A nightmare rooted in reality is much more potent than a monster under the bed.
Why An Evil Shazam Is A Worse-Case Scenario For The DC Universe
The idea of the Captain going bad isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility, given the character's history and the past actions of other champions of magic. Black Adam's origins in the current core-DC continuity saw Teth-Adam murder his nephew to fully take control of the powers afforded by the Wizard, and this possible future for Billy haunts Mary Marvel. When he was infected by the Batman Who Laughs variation of the Joker Toxin, Billy Batson became a big enough threat to hold his own against Superman and Batman at the same time. Recent events in Shazam! have revealed that some of the deities that classically provide share their powers with the hero have turned against him, using their influence to transform the typically cheerful hero into a far more aggressive and angry figure. Other variants of the hero have also taken dark paths over the years, perhaps most infamously the Captain Marvel of Kingdom Come. In that timeline, the hero ended up under the control of Mister Mind and under Lex Luthor's thrall. Lex used him as an enforcer in his campaign to control the world, eventually resulting in a battle against Superman that resulted in Billy's death and the demise of countless other heroes.
The fact that Mary is keenly aware of the danger posed by an unrestrained Billy Batson highlights much Mary must genuinely fear this possible turn of events. A villainous Billy Batson is a genuinely dangerous force to be reckoned with, given the characters' wealth of power. The idea that Mary's worst fear is Billy specifically following in the footsteps of someone like Black Adam highlights just how much that prospect could doom one of DC's most iconic family units, as he could repeat Teth-Adam's foundational sin and kill his family for more power. Mary is afraid of her brother also takes even though she's now empowered by an entirely different set of gods than the rest of the Shazam family, as her work during the events of Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods resulted in her own unique powerset. However, the lingering fear that Billy could strip her of these powers adds a darker element to Mary Marvel's nightmare. On some level, Mary seems to still think she's trapped in Billy's shadow, that her potential and agency could be stolen away in a heartbeat. It makes sense, given the inherent danger of a morally untethered Black Adam, which is already a threat to the world, given the events of Black Adam. But the idea of Billy following in Teth-Adam's footsteps by slaying his own family — and the way it haunts the rest of the Shazam family — is one of the most harrowing revelations in Knight Terrors so far.