#this warm friendly figure acts like both your grandad and the dumbass kid next door

[redrobin-detective]

Y’all got me jazzed up so let me talk about the immortal Wizard Billy AU that I’ve been playing with in secret (tried to write a fic sort of maybe abandoned it?)

Okay so, same shtick, Billy is a homeless kind-hearted 11 year old chosen by the Wizard to be his champion but also, when the previous Shazam died, passed on the mantle of the Wizard as well. Except it’s 1939. Billy does his Captain Marvel thing for awhile alongside Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr., fighting the good fight and loving life not really aware of his other responsibilities. It’s a few years in when Freddy and Mary are growing up and Billy is still stuck at 11 that they realize something is up. 

It’s a devastating realization at the time as he sees that he’s not going to be able to grow up alongside his family. It’s at this time Captain Marvel disappears from the world and he dedicates himself to being the Wizard full-time. I’d like to think before he gives up Cap he there for the first wave of heroes and has a hand in forming the JSA. He was on his way to bonding with the heroes of old when he learned the truth and left without a trace. Mary and Freddy continue on as his first official Marvels for many years until they give it up to pursue real life goals. They remain very close as they grow, Freddy died young(ish) but Mary only recently passed of old age which really was a blow to Billy as he now has nothing left of his old life.

So as the Wizard, Billy is the center of all magic. The magic lives in and is nourished by his spirit and while he can’t do things like rewrite reality he’s still one of the most terrifyingly powerful beings out there. Not that he ever uses it as such bc hes a bean. The previous Shazam was a hermit who did kind of less than the bare minimum of his job and magic was kind of a free for all. Billy decides to step up and be better. He serves not only as the Guardian of Magic but also an ambassador/king/spiritual figure. He is very engaged with the magical world, settling disputes, serving as a friend/mentor to all who needs it. There’s trial and error but after 80 years of working out the bumps, he’s got a decent handle on his job. 

The majority of magic society LOVES the hell out of their boy king, think about how people go nuts for the British royal family. You never know what you’re gonna get with Wizards but Billy is kind and understanding and actually steps outside of the Rock to see the real world. He’s got quite a following, probably has guards watching out for him at all times. Because there’s also a strong minority who hates having an active Wizard. They don’t like what he’s doing and they’re threatened/jealous of his power. Bill controls all magic, he has awesome powers but also has his hands on the off switch and that terrifies lots of people.

Billy is still fundamentally human. So I want to make clear that Billy is 11, he has been alive for almost a century but he’s still 11. He is mature, wise, has lots of outdated slang but he is still is a child at heart, he’s just been 11 for a long time. He stills needs to eat, he gets tired early, has a tiny child bladder and most importantly, he has human weakness and can die if you get past all his magic. If Billy dies before he properly passes on the Wizard mantle then the magic will be loose for anyone to grab, chaotic, out of control and a major disaster. The fact that Billy is small, vulnerable and puts himself out there so readily makes a lot of people nervous. He has a secret weapon, hardly ever used though and that is he never officially gave up Captain Marvel, he just stopped transforming. Should he find himself in over his head all he need do is call upon his predecessor and Cap will live once more. Almost no one knows he was Cap nor that he kept the powers.

Okay so we’re in the modern era, the second great era of heroes is here. As more magical beings enter the League, they speak lovingly of the boy king, the Wizard who watches over all magic. Soon the JLA and Billy have an arrangement that all major magical disputes go through him first to try to diffuse without violence which doesn’t always work out but they still try. The League is pretty damn weirded out by Billy and they fall in one of two modes: treat him like an adult or treat him like a child where he is neither. He has the wisdom of an adult but the body and soul of a child. Only the kids get him and he gets on very well with them. Often Heroes will send their sidekicks to Billy because they just don’t know how to properly interact with him. The magical heroes also get it, it’ll never not be weird to see the stoic and unimpressed Jason Blood kneeling and reverently swearing himself before a kid in a Ramones tee and dirty sneakers.

Billy has had many Marvels over the years, all of them kids, most but not all came from tragic circumstances. The current Marvels are three foster kids: Darla, Eugene and Pedro (see what I did there). While he is a kid himself his Marvels are also HIS kids. He never feels more like an adult than when dealing with his champions. He loves the HELL out of those children and basically becomes a second parent to them. Kids are so adaptable that none of them think its weird that a 16 year old Marvel is having their hair petted and worries soothed by an 11 year old in a cape. Billy’s just like that, they love him so much and still stay in contact even when they decide to return their powers. I’ve gone back and forth on Billy as Marvel, on the one hand him keeping it hidden and it only coming out in dire circumstances and everyone’s like WHAT is fun. But also Billy losing the last of his old life (Mary) depresses him so much, the resurgence of heroes makes him want to build new bonds that will last and he joins as just another Marvel not telling anyone who he really is. Living JSAs are like ‘woah you went out for milk 70 years ago and never came back’. Idk I think its cool.

Bleh this is getting long, one last section on Billy himself. Billy is an odd one to pin down. He’s so painfully kind and warm and open and you just immediately feel safe and comfortable when you’re with him which is disarming in its own way. He’s very quietly wise, only giving advice when asked and carries himself with a sense of regal duty. But on the other hand he’s also very childish and silly and likes to goof off a lot and pull pranks and go see cool things. He rough houses with his Marvels/sidekicks, he swears like a sailor, he l o v e s memes and though he isn’t always up to date he can talk the talk with other kids. He’s a conundrum, both adult and child and neither all at once. He’s vaguely unsettling to adults because he doesn’t fit into any one box, to kids he’s just like that. Billy Batson is a hero when he can be, a Wizard he didn’t want to be but still does his best and friend to all who are willing to take his hand.