Shazam’s Magic Power Means He Can Never [SPOILER] | Screen Rant
When it comes to powers, Billy Batson (aka Shazam) has some of the best abilities any superhero could hope for. Not only does Billy gain the Strength of Hercules, the Speed of Mercury, Courage of Achilles, and the Power of Zeus, he also gains the Stamina of Atlas which grants him superhuman endurance, and the Wisdom of Solomon which, in many stories, increases his IQ to incredible levels.
However, the Wisdom of Solomon does come with several drawbacks – which Billy discovered much to his chagrin when he tried to use his superhuman intelligence to do something most teenage boys would love to do – ace a really difficult school test.
Billy related the story to Courtney Whitmore (aka Stargirl) in JSA #48. After Courtney noticed that Billy was less confident but more relaxed in his normal teenage form, Billy admitted that the Power of Shazam affected him in ways that weren’t completely physical. To illustrate, he related a time when he missed a history test because he was busy beating up Black Adam. As punishment, his teacher made him stay after school and take the test.
Once alone, however, Billy got the brilliant idea to just shout “Shazam!” and transform into his superhuman alter ego (named Captain Marvel at the time). Billy reasoned that the Wisdom of Solomon would increase his intelligence to the point where he could easily ace his history test. And considering that the wisdom has supplied Billy with expert knowledge in mathematics and sciences during his superhero exploits, he was probably right.
After changing, however, Billy found he couldn’t even pick up his pencil since he was suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling of how wrong it was to cheat. Unable to use his superpowers dishonestly, Billy changed back and finished the test with his natural brainpower – scoring a C-minus. Courtney sympathized with Billy, but later found herself on the receiving end of his divine morality when he decided he couldn’t date her since it appeared that a grown man was dating a teenage girl.
Curiously, once the DC Universe rebooted, Billy’s inability to use his superpowers immorally seemed to vanish as he started accepting money for saving people when he first got the Power of Shazam. In the Shazam! movie, Billy even started using his powers to buy beer and become a street performer with his “lightning hands.” As this new version of Billy Batson was something of a delinquent, it’s possible his selfish side managed to supersede the Wisdom of Solomon… at least for a time.
In recent issues of Shazam!, however, Billy shows he’s gained a much greater awareness of what having the Wisdom of Solomon actually means. Stating that the wisdom doesn’t mean you automatically learn everything, Billy reveals that the Wisdom actually functions as a moral compass, telling him when something is right or wrong. Although Billy has shown he can ignore the Wisdom (notably when he refused to believe that his father was an imposter), he inevitably allowed the power to guide his actions.
Thus, having all of that amazing power actually prevents Shazam from doing something most people wouldn’t think twice about doing – cheat. Considering the enormous responsibilities placed on Billy’s shoulders, it’s probably good that he’s been given a superhuman moral compass – but it probably annoys the heck out of him when he takes a test in school.