Freddy Freeman

History

While on a fishing trip with his grandfather, Freddy Freeman got his first taste of tragedy. Captain Nazi came into the area in mid fight with the superhero Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel, his sister and sidekick. Captain Nazi notices the two and did the unthinkable, He killed Freddy’s grandfather in a single shot. He also crippled Freddy with this attack.

When the Super Duo realized this accident, they rushed to the wizard known as Shazam. They pleaded with him to restore Freddy’s body back to him in full. The Wizard suggested they share their power with him. Captain Marvel did just that by giving a portion of his power to Freddy, creating Captain Marvel Jr. His activation phrase is “Captain Marvel”

Freddy then started his Superhero life with his new found family. They were usually in the city known as Fawcett City. He grew a lot and learned a lot of things during this time.Freddy decided to leave the codename of Captain Marvel Jr and become the hero known as “CM3”. The change of name was because if he started to say his codename the magic lightning would strike him, take his powers away and leave him powerless against his enemies.

Major Story Arcs

Teen Titans

Some time later another team of Titans was created, however just like the originals they were all teens. The group was formed by a group of heroes that had something in common: an alien race named the Veil planted seeds inside of them giving them their powers. Along with them there was a de-aged Atombecause of the events of Zero Hour: Crisis in time.

However, this team lacked popularity, in great part because they used new characters. DC decided to take care of that making a contest of who should be the new Teen Titans. The contest was originally won by Robin (Tim Drake) however the Batman writer thought that Tim shouldn’t be in the Titans so they requested that he wouldn’t be included in the Teen Titans roster. After that Captain Marvel Jr. joined. (He had changed back to his previous identity)

The first appearance of CM3 was when he helped the Teen Titans to save Supergirl and the half-alien being known as Fringe. The two of them were captured by the Veil that wanted to wipe out everyone in the world with their alien blood.

After that the Titan member Argent started a membership drive in an attempt to make the Teen Titans a stable team that wouldn’t dissolve after the death of Joto (later Hot Spot). A group of young heroes appeared for the audition in an attempt to join the Teen Titans. Among them was Captain Marvel Jr who wanted to join the team because of his previous encounter with the team.

The Veil found learned of this and began an attack against the Teen Titans and the rest of the young heroes. A fight started where Captain Marvel Jr. proved what he could do, impressing everyone after a great display of power and abilities. After that Captain Marvel Jr. and Fringe were offered membership by the Teen Titans.Some time later it was revealed that Joto (Hotspot) had survived and was alive. After finding this out the Teen Titans went on a mission to rescue him. After that the team broke up and everyone went their separate ways.

Some time later Captain Marvel Jr. would be captured alongside anyone else who had ever been a Teen Titan. After he was freed he helped everyone who had been a Titan in battle against the JLA and their allies in order to save Cyberion (Cyborg). In the fight he helpedWildebeest to fight Superman and tackled him, when the fight was over he apologized to Superman under Captain Marvel‘s request. Late Freddy, along with Beast Boy, Flamebird, Lagoon Boy and Cassandra Cain were fill-in members for Young Justice for an issue.

Some time later, Beast Boy decided to revive Teen Titans West under the new name of Titans L.A., along with Bushido, Matt Logan,Bumblebee, Flamebird, Beast Boy, Hero Cruz, Terra and Herald, and Captain Marvel Jr. However the team failed to last over a long period, breaking up shortly after formation.

Outsiders

Captain Marvel Jr. helped the Outsiders to defeat the new Sabbac, where afterwards he was offered membership but declined. However, when the hero known as Indigo revealed that she was Brainiac 8.0 and betrayed the team, almost destroying the team with her death andNightwing’s departure. Jade offered Captain Marvel Jr. membership again. He remained on the team very briefly, where he left because of the teams dark nature.

52

Captain Marvel Jr. makes several appearances in the weekly series named 52, some of them in the Black Adam storyline and later as a member of the Teen Titans. He helped Osiris to join the team. However he makes him leave after it was shown on worldwide television that Osiris killed a man.

Trials of Shazam

When the wizard Shazam fell at the hands of the Spectre and the Rock of Eternity was destroyed, events were set in motion that would change the landscape of magic for good. One year after the wizard died Freddy’s powers were lost. The magic drew back upon itself to heal. Freddy has recently dropped out of college, and is dealing with the loss of his powers while keeping vigil for Mary Batson. When she lost her powers, she was 3 miles above water. As he sits by her hospital bed he reflects on the last year dealing with his lost powers, and being unable to find Billy. When he says Shazam, he is struck by a bolt of lightning and taken to the Rock of Eternity.

It is there that he meets Marvel (Billy Batson), his old mentor, and keeper of the Power. Marvel explains what happened with the power of Shazam, and that an acolyte is needed once more. Freddy, being next in the line of succession, is offered the chance to earn the power by performing Trials for the Lords of Magic. As opposed to last time, the powers that he will acquire will be from the Gods themselves, not the Wizard (or Billy himself).

He will no longer be Captain Marvel Junior; he will be the Champion of the power, Shazam, though he is notified that if he fails it will fall to another magical line, The Council of Merlin. Once Freddy has accepted he then heads to meet his guide on this journey, Zareb Babak.

It is Zareb who explains to Freddy the difference between the Lords of Magic, and the Gods of Olympus. His lesson is interrupted by the sudden assault of an Audiom Warbeast. After saving Zareb from the Warbeast he is granted a portion of the power, enough to fix his impairment and heads to begin his trials. Zareb takes Freddy to get covered, explaining that he needs the protection. It is done by a tattoo artist; Rachel Zallman, during the course of his covering he is grilled about his relationship with Billy. In the end Freddy must admit the truth, that he does resent Billy for the hand he played in making him a cripple and his grandfather’s death, but Billy made him a hero and he will always be grateful for that. It is only after the ordeal is finished, and they have left, does Zareb reveal that his first trial is complete. He has earned wisdom from the Lord of Magic, Solomon.

Freddy’s second trial is given by Achilles to earn him courage. He ends up tasked to help him keep a Hate Empath from entering our realm in the Middle East. It’s during this trial that the Council of Merlin’s representative, Sabina, makes herself known. She uses her minions to keep them busy long enough to allow the demon to emerge. While Freddy held of the minions until they could be banished, Achilles rushed to face the Empath. Sabina manages to kill Achilles just as Freddy banishes her army. To finish the Empath off, Freddy is forced to revert to his mortal form and allow it eat him, before calling down the lightning to destroy it from within. That act of courage passes him through the trial, and earns him Achilles’ gift, the power of near-invulnerability. He also learns that the rules have truly changed, he does not have to speak the word to call the power, it is his to call at will. When he asks about the fate of Achilles, he is informed that old soldiers never die.

Freddy moves on to his next trial from the God of Strength, Hercules. He finds this newest lord of Magic in jail, having been tricked into causing the deaths of mortals. Hercules tasks him with the trial of releasing him, but while he argues with Zareb about its possibility, Sabina breaks into jail and steals the power. Luckily the rules prevent her from getting all of it. Hercules summons the rest in the form of a trail, and Freddy goes after Sabina. Using the fact he has greater power, having passed two trials, he manages to put Sabina on the back foot and she retreats.

His third trial is somewhat of a failure; he only has half of the power. He heads to his 4th. This trial is to be given by the God of Stamina, Atlas. Yet when they arrive, they find that Sabina has already killed Atlas, and presumably stolen his power. Freddy must take his position holding up the world, and nearly cracks under the pressure. When he is relieved by Marvel he asks how many months has he been holding the world, and is informed its been merely 3 minutes. Marvel takes over holding the world, informing them he has 24 hours he can be away from the Rock of Eternity, and to find the next god in line.

That God is Apollo, currently living as a man. Apollo has no desire to take Atlas’ place, and for his trial forces Freddy into combat with him. In the end, Apollo realizes that he must take Atlas’ place, asking only that his family be cared for. As he readies to give Freddy his power, healing; which will heal the wounds he receives that Ares gift cannot prevent, he learns another bit of news. When Zareb and Freddy inform him that his family has been erased, he tasks Freddy with finding a replacement, gifting half of his power to Sabina until he does. This evens the playing field, and leaves both Sabina and Freddy racing to find the 6th god Mercury.

Sabina slaughters her way through the defenses Mercury has set up, Freddy and Zareb following. Mercury finally decides to show himself, fleeing from both and forcing them to try and find him. Freddy gathers heroes from the magical community, including Shadowpact andZatanna to name a few, to help him though he and Marvel agree they won’t succeed in finding him. In the end Sabina manages to trick Mercury using his children, and manages to steal his powers as well. This leaves only the final and most powerful Lord of Magic, Zeus. It is revealed that the real reason that Freddy gathered those heroes was for what came next. Sabina could never overpower Zeus, nor coerce him into granting her the power, so she will attempt to force him using old magic. To do this she needs to sacrifice 1 Million souls, and he has gathered these other heroes to help him stop her.

He also reaches out to the Justice League for help as well. When Sabina arrives, with an army of demons granted by her ancestor Merlin, the forces of good Magic are there to oppose her. During the battle Freddy enacts the final part of his plan, allowing Sabina to force him back, so he can position her through the portal. It is revealed that Freddy knows 2 magical beings of such power going through will destroy it, and force the demons back home. There is also another outcome, he and Sabina will die, and the powers of Shazam will be lost. Freddy is willing to make the sacrifice, it is this willingness that causes him to pass the trials, and summons the final Lord of Magic. It is then that Zareb is revealed to be an avatar of Zeus, and grants Freddy the full powers of Shazam. Sabina is forced through the portal killing her instantly; therefore the demons are banished, leaving good magic the victor for the day. In the end, Freddy is poised to take up the mantle of Magical Guardian of Earth, as the new Shazam.

Final Crisis

Freddy was among those heroes gathered by Green Lantern Alan Scott to face the threat of Darkseid and his elite when they moved to take over the Earth. After the release of the Anti-Life Equation he was one of the heroes who managed to retain his free will. He fought alongside the other heroes in the resistance. He was not present to defend the Watchtower bases when they were under attack due to the fact that he had been sent to barter with Black Adam.

Forced to use all of his waning strength, Shazam fought his way to Black Adam’s castle to appeal for his aid. Upon his arrival, Freddy tried to appeal to Adam’s sense of honor and duty to fight alongside the resistance, made of heroes and villains alike, during the assault on Blüdhaven. It was revealed during this encounter that the Lords of Magic, like other pantheons, had been subjugated by the dark New Gods. As he was reasoning with Adam, Alan Scott managed to broadcast a last call to action to those still resisting the New Gods. Shazam and Black Adam prepared to fight alongside the resistance.

Shazam, along with Black Adam, joined the assault against Blüdhaven, attempting to destroy Darkseid before he rose. As the assault began, a possessed Mary Marvel attempted to attack Supergirl. Black Adam anticipated and flew to intercept Mary’s attack. Shazam rushed forward as Adam brought her to the ground and began to brutally beat her. Admonishing Adam for attempting to kill Mary, Shazam hauled him off of her. Adam revealed that Mary was possessed too late, as she managed to launch a SUV into them both, catching them in the explosion.

Shazam survived the explosion unharmed, and as Adam begged him to kill her, began to confront Mary. Freddy tried to reason with Mary, but she flung Adam into him. Using her speed, she blitzed Shazam, relying on Freddy not to try and hurt Mary. Just as Freddy prepared to fight Mary, Tawny arrived and attempted to threaten her into reverting to her mortal form. Shazam tried to warn him but Kalibak, son of Darkseid, blindsided Tawny. Together Kalibak and Mary were able to overpower Freddy.

Shazam watched as Mary challenged Supergirl, and during their fight was able to come up with a plan of action. Calling Kara off, he used the last of his power to call the lightning down, transforming back to Freddy and freeing a transformed Mary from Desaad‘s grasp. Taking up discarded rubble as weaponry, Freddy and Mary prepared to rejoin the battle, watching as the sky above them turned red and began to bleed. They also witnessed the timely arrival of Superman, who rushed Darkseid’s base, returning with Batman‘s corpse.

New Krypton

Freddy arrived in Kandor along with Zatanna, Zatara, Doctor Fate, and Doctor Occult, all heavy hitters of the magical community. As they prepared for their spell, Freddy was responsible for holding off any Kryptonians that got too close or gave them problems. Gathering their power, Freddy called down the lightning, and joining power with the others was able to direct a spell using it to depower a vast majority of the Kryptonian combatants. He then watched as the remaining Kryptonians fled to Kandor, lifting the city into the Sky. They then flew off into space, taking Kandor to the other side of the Sun and using Brainiac‘s technology to re-create Krypton.

With Shazam‘s recent return, it is unknown how it will reflect on Freddy, though Shazam has mentioned that he will be dealt with.

Cry For Justice

Freddy was captured by Prometheus, who sewed up his lips. He was freed by the new Mr. Scarlet and Bulleteer. He tried to stop Prometheus’ plot but his magic lightning didn’t work. Afterwards he appeared in a small panel of Blackest Night and a panel of Justice League: Generation Lost.

New 52

Freddy’s parents are in prison so he went into care and was fostered by the Vasquez. He is shown to be mischievous. He is in the same Foster with Mary Marvel and Billy Batson, along other kids: Darla, Pedro and Eugene.

He also was the first one to discover the secret of Billy after his transformation in Shazam. Together they used the powers of Billy to gain some money, but ended finding crimes by accident and helping people instead. However Freddy disagreed with Billy about return to the Vasquez family house and the y went in different paths. When Black Adam attacked, Freddy revealed the secret of Billy to the rest of the kids. Together the found Billy and went to the rock of eternity to learn about Black Adam’s origin.

When Black Adam threatened to kill all the kids, Billy chose to share his power, not with Black Adam, but with Freddy, Mary and the other kids. Together they helped Billy until he defeated Black Adam and Sabbac, putting the seven sins on the run.

A main difference with previous incarnations is that now Freddy is blonde.

Powers

The wizard’s name, SHAZAM, is an acronym with each letter standing for an Elder who grants his power to Shazam’s champion.

When Freddy Freeman speaks the wizard’s name, a magical lightning bolt from Zeus charged with the power of the Shazam Elders transforms Freddy from an adolescent boy into the adult hero, Captain Marvel, empowered by the gods. As Captain Marvel, he is granted powers from these Elders:

S for Solomon

S is for the wisdom of Solomon. The wisdom of Solomon gives Freddy great knowledge as well as a photographic memory. Solomon is actually able to speak to Freddy during his times of need. The wisdom of Solomon also makes Freddy omni-lingual and makes him a very skilled war tactician.

• Superhuman Knowledge- Captain Marvel possesses a vast amount of knowledge about facts that he had no encountered previously. Freddy is able to make guesses about subjects that he had no prior knowledge to, but is able to answer with incredible accuracy.
• Clairvoyance – Freddy Freeman is able to change disadvantages to advantages even though he is not fully aware of the situation at hand.
• Hypnosis- Freddy Freeman is able to hypnotize his opponents, but this does not work on people who are of a very strong mind.
• Omni-Lingual- Freddy has the ability to speak any language and can even communicate with aliens.

H for Hercules

H is for the strength of Hercules, strongest of the gods. Freddy is empowered with Hercules’ nearly limitless superhuman-strength which is often compared to and rivals that of Superman. As such, Captain Marvel’s strength is of the highest level and is sufficiently vast enough that it enables him to lift/move unbelievably massive and/or heavy objects possibly on a planetary scale or higher with little effort. Freddy Freeman often attempts to use only as much force as is necessary so is not often seen moving objects of a planetary scale accomplishing such tasks are well within his abilities

• Superhuman Strength- Captain Marvel has the ability to lift well over 100 tons with minimal effort and has battled top tier beings such asWonder Woman and also Superman. The limits of Captain Marvels strength are unknown.

A for Atlas

A is for the stamina of Atlas, Titan who bears the heavens on his shoulders. This means he doesn’t need to sleep or eat as Captain Marvel and has virtually limitless superhuman endurance. Due to Atlas’ stamina, Captain Marvel doesn’t fatigue during or after any exertion; no matter how strenuous or how long in duration. This also makes him near-invulnerable.

• Self-sustenance- While in the form of Captain Marvel, Freddy Freeman does not need to eat. sleep or breathe. The godly energies that transform his body into Earth’s Mightiest Hero are enough to sustain his body. From Black Adam, who also shares the same powers as Freddy Freeman (but from different sources) we have seen that he was able to survive crossing the universe in his return to Earth which took him 5,000 years to accomplish.
• Super-human Stamina- Captain Marvel’s godly energies do not require him to rest and prevent any kind of fatigue toxins from building in his body granting virtually inexhaustible amounts of endurance no matter how strenuous the physical activity he is engaged in.

Z for Zeus

Z is for the power of Zeus, most powerful of the gods. This grants Captain Marvel magic resistance and the lightning that changes Freddy. He has used the lightning as a weapon before, when he dodges it – allowing it to strike an enemy. Captain Marvel has also stated that with this power also comes the “Wrath of Zeus.”

• Magical Resistance- The power of Zeus gives Captain Marvel a resistance against magic and only magic of the highest order is able to harm him.
• Corporal Enhancement – When Freddy Freeman transforms into Shazam he gains added muscle as well as height to that of a full grown “God”.
• Teleportation- With the power of Zeus, Captain Marvel has the ability to transport to the Rock of Eternity wherever he is at.
• Sorcery- Captain Marvel is a being of pure and ancient magic. This gives him the ability to resist the negative effects of magic.
• Healing- Although Captain Marvel has the power of the Gods it is possible to harm him. Captain Marvel is able to call down the lightning that gives him his powers in order to heal his body if he is injured. Captain Marvel’s healing factor is also of a godly level and is able to heal himself from almost all injuries in an incredible amount of time.

A for Achilles

A is for the courage of Achilles, greatest hero of the Trojan War. This grants him an inner strength and confidence.

• Invulnerability- Captain Marvel is virtually invulnerable to all forms of harm. His resistance to harm is equal to that of Superman’s but he does not share his weaknesses to Kryptonite or magic.
• Optimism- Captain Marvel is a combination of the Wisdom of Solomon as well as the child personality of Freddy Freeman which create a fairly optimistic character in the DC Universe. He is able to keep his cool in even the most dire of situations.

M for Mercury

M is for the speed of Mercury, swiftest of the gods. This grants Marvel his god-like speed and his power to fly. This power is also responsible for his sorcery skills.

• Superhuman Speed- Captain Marvel is able to move at incredible speeds and is able to move so fast that he can seem invisible to the eye of the human being. Captain Marvels speeds is said to surpass that of even Superman.
• Flight- The power of Mercury grants Captain Marvel the ability to defy gravity. With this, he is able to travel through space and through the atmosphere of the Earth at incredible speeds.

Other Media

Shazam (2019)

In this film, Jack Dylan Grazer will play Freddy Freeman.