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Mary Marvel
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Real Name
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Mary Willow Batson
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First Appearance
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Captain Marvel Adventures #18 (December, 1942)
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Creators
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Otto Binder, Marc Swayze
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Team Affiliations
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Marvel Family, Justice League
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Aliases
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Captain Marvel, Mary Bromfield, Black Mary, Lady Shazam, Captain Shazam, Mary Shazam
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Base of Operations
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Fawcett City
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Powers
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Superhuman strength, speed, stamina and courage, Physical and magical near-invulnerability, Flight, Genius-level intellect, Control and emission of magic lightning
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Skills and Abilities
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Fighting Experience
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Paraphernalia
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None
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Mary Marvel is a superheroine who originated in Fawcett Comics and later became part of the DC Universe.
Origin[]
Mary Batson was born Billy Batsons twin sister, but they were seperated at a very young age. Billy Batson would go on to become the hero Captain Marvel whenever he said SHAZAM. When the two met years later, Mary said "Shazam" and discovered that she could also turn into a superhero when she said the magic word.
Biography[]
Earth-S (Fawcett Comics)[]
Mary Batson was the daughter of Merrill and Jocyelyn Batson and the twin sister of Billy Batson and was born in New York City. They were both nursed by a woman named Sarah Primm who replaced Mary with the infant of another family after the twins were orphaned.
Modified DC origin[]
Prominent archaeologists C.C. and Marilyn Batson are assigned by the Sivana expedition on an excursion to Egypt. They take along their young daughter Mary, but are forced to leave their son Billy in America with C.C.'s half-brother. The elder Batsons are killed by their associate Theo Adam, who then kidnaps Mary. Upon Theo Adam's return to the United States, Adam's sister, a maid named Sarah Primm, takes Mary into her care. Primm arranges for her childless employers, Nick and Nora Bromfield, to illegally adopt Mary. As Mary Bromfield, the young girl grows up living an idyllic life in a wealthy family, but continuously has dreams of another family with a brother she has never seen. Meanwhile, Billy eventually finding himself on the streets, and is given the power to become Captain Marvel. He learns that Mary is still alive, but after four years of searching, neither he nor his benefactor, the wizard Shazam, can find the girl. The only thing Billy has to remember Mary by is her favorite toy, a "Tawky Tawny" doll, which was shipped to America with the Batsons’ possessions after their murders. As a young teenager, Mary enters a regional spelling bee held in Fawcett City and emceed by Billy, who works as an on-air reporter for WHIZ radio. After saving Mary from kidnappers twice as Captain Marvel, Billy notices how much Mary Bromfield reminds him of Mary Batson and has an undercover cop named "Muscles" McGinnis retrieve the girl's forged adoption record. Learning that Mary is indeed his sister, Billy tries to figure out a way to let Mary know he is her brother. The old "Tawky Tawny" doll suddenly transforms into a full-sized humanoid tiger and comes to life, instructing Billy to take it to Mary. As Captain Marvel, Billy flies out to the Bromfields’ hometown of Fairfield to deliver the doll and the adoption papers to Mary.
Captain Marvel arrives at the Bromfield estate and changes back to Billy Batson to deliver the package, but is immediately kidnapped by the thugs who helped Primm forge Mary's adoption records. Mary, not having seen Billy, takes the package and opens it, discovering the adoption records and the Tawky Tawny doll. Once again, the doll comes to life and instructs the bewildered girl to say the magic word "Shazam" and save her brother. Mary complies and is transformed by a bolt of magic lightning into a superpowered doppelganger of her deceased mother. She saves Billy, who transforms into Captain Marvel to help Mary defeat the thugs, but the two Marvels cannot save Sarah Primm, who is murdered by one of the thugs.
New 52[]
The DC Universe was rebooted in 2011 with the New 52 line of comics. In the current continuity, Mary appears as Mary Bromfield, making her debut in Justice League (vol. 2) #8 in 2012. She is the oldest kid living in the Vázquezes' foster home, along with Billy Batson, Freddy Freeman, Eugene Choi, Darla Dudley, and Pedro Peña. Mary was the second child placed with the Vázquezes, having run away from an abusive home at a young age. Polite and well-mannered, Mary functions as the unofficial "den mother," looking after her foster siblings. When Billy arrives at the Vázquez home and gains the power to become Shazam, he shares his powers with his foster siblings.[18] By saying the magic word "Shazam!" Mary can become an adult superhero with a red uniform similar to that of the traditional Mary Marvel. Now her name is Lady Shazam.
In other media[]
- Along with the rest of the Marvel Family, Mary Marvel appeared in the 1981 Shazam! Saturday morning cartoon, aired as one half of The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! voiced by Dawn Jeffory.
- Mary Marvel (as Mary Batson) appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "The Power of Shazam!" voiced by Tara Strong. As with the origin of her appearance, both Mary and Billy are reunited at the end of the episode after Batman did some detective work that found her. They then confirm their relationship as brother and sister through the discovery that they each have possession of half a locket bequeathed to them by their late mother. She returns in "The Malicious Mr. Mind!", this time with the ability to transform into Mary Marvel. She and the other members of the Marvel Family, along with Batman, battle Mister Mind and the Monster Society of Evil.
- Greg Weisman (producer of the TV series Young Justice) has confirmed that Mary Bromfield was a member of the Team in between seasons 1 and 2 and was known as Sergeant Marvel. Mary was supposed to appear both in and out of costume at Rocket's bridal shower in the episode "Satisfaction" but was cut from the finalized episode. She was also set to appear at the gathering of heroes in "Endgame," but there was not enough time to design her character. She was also set to appear in an issue of the tie-in comic in a story centered on the Marvel Family.
- On the forums of Comic Book Resources, writer Dwayne McDuffie confirmed that the Superwoman (voiced by Gina Torres) portrayed in the film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths is the Crime Syndicate of America's combined version of both Mary Marvel and Wonder Woman. A second, alternate version of Mary appeared on a computer page of the lesser members of the Syndicate. While initially unnamed in the movie, designer Jerome K. Moore identified her as Mary Mayhem, he said he made this second Mary Marvel because he didn't know about this change in Superwoman.
- Appears in movie Shazam!