Posted in: Comics, DC Comics, Justice League | Tagged: captain marvel, mark waid, shazadam, shazam, The Captain
Is Shazam Called Captain Marvel Again? Mark Waid Seems To Think So… in Justice League Unlimited #18
Published Wed, 22 Apr 2026 09:27:11 -0500 by Rich Johnston
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Last updated Wed, 22 Apr 2026 15:02:19 -0500
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Article Summary
Mark Waid refers to Shazam as Captain Marvel again in Justice League Unlimited #18 from DC Comics.
Captain Marvel’s name history is explored, including DC’s past legal battles with Marvel Comics.
Waid previously renamed the character “The Captain” due to ongoing trademark issues with Marvel.
This change could signal a return to the Captain Marvel name or set up future Marvel/DC crossovers.
Maybe this is a bonus of the recent Marvel/DC crossovers, I don’t know. But it seems that, as of today’s Justice League Unlimited #18 by Mark Waid and Clayton Henry, Shazam, or The Captain, the superhero form of Billy Batson, is called Captain Marvel again. Just look…
s Justice League Unlimited #18 by Mark Waid and Clayton Henry
Captain Marvel was created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck, first appearing in Whiz Comics #2 in 1940, published by Fawcett Comics. But DC Comics stopped Fawcett from publishing Captain Marvel in 1951 over trademark similarities to Superman, and Fawcett was forced to shut down (inadvertently launching Marvelman in the UK to replace reprints of Captain Marvel). In 1971, DC Comics licensed the rights from Fawcett’s owners, Ballantine Books (and then full ownership rights bought in 1991), but by then, Marvel Comics had established itself, and so DC couldn’t call its comic Captain Marvel, over trademark issues with Marvel Comics. So his comic book was then called Shazam. And, in time, the character was no longer known as Captain Marvel inside the covers either, but Shazam.
Then, more recently, Mark Waid had a new name for him in the recent relaunch of Shazam, and stated, “I’ll just call him Captain. We don’t call him Captain Marvel in the book, but I will never not be able to call him Captain Marvel when I’m just relaxed. So in the book, he’s just called the Captain, and that is the other kids’ name for him… We just do a one-panel thing where we showed there was a maritime accident, Captain Marvel was soaking wet somehow, the others, you know, Mary laughing at him and saluting him, and they start calling him Captain, just as a joke and the name sticks. In the same way that The Doctor sticks when it’s Doctor Who. He doesn’t go around calling himself The Captain, but when people ask him point-blank, he’s got to say something.” Especially as calling himself Shazam would trigger his transformative magic word…
Shazam #1 (2023) by Mark Waid and Dan Mora
But now? Well, it was Mark Waid writing both… is he Captain Marvel again? Might the next Marvel/DC crossover be Captain Marvel Vs Captain Marvel? After all Al Ewing got to call him Captain Marvel in Shazam/Thor… Any chance we could bring back Shazadam??? Justice League Unlimited #18 by Mark Waid and Clayton Henry is published today by DC Comics.
Justice League Unlimited #18 cover by Dan Mora
Justice League Unlimited #18 by Mark Waid, Clayton Henry
Unlimited? Definitely. United? Hardly. The strongest voices in the Justice League have begun granting amnesty—and membership—to super-villains, and mutiny is brewing! Plus: Guy Gardner leads a mission that will have startling consequences for the entire galaxy!
Justice League Unlimited #18 by Mark Waid, Clayton Henry
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