The New Shazam, Mary Marvel’s Debut Delayed By Six Months

Fans of the Shazam family are going to have to wait just a bit longer to see the premiere of a brand new champion—Mary Marvel. DC Comics announced that a miniseries set to star Billy Batson’s sister, Mary Bromfield, has been pushed back to August of next year. The eagerly anticipated comic will feature the once-Mary Marvel as the new Shazam.

Announced in November, The Champion of Shazam will come from writer Josie Campbell with art by Evan “Doc” Shaner. After a “heroic sacrifice” by Billy Batson, the Shazam family’s powers disappear, leaving Mary to her own devices in college. But her life will be changed forever once more when she’s chosen to be newest champion named Shazam. The comic will be Mary’s first outing as the title hero and was previously set to debut in February of 2022.

Reported by GamesRadar, it was announced that DC initially informed retailers that The Champion of Shazam was delayed indefinitely, before clarifying that the comic is actually being delayed by six months to August of next year. The recent change in plans came as news earlier in the week to series’ artist Evan “Doc” Shaner who tweeted about it. Despite the delay, Shaner remains optimistic on the future release of the series. He followed up his reaction to the news by saying “We’re continuing on as though it were still coming out in February, you all will just be getting it later than we’d originally thought. Everything else is the same and I’m still very excited about this book.“

The timing is unusual, but not exactly uncommon. Books can and have been delayed in the months leading up to their release. In some rare cases, comics have gotten canceled indefinitely mere weeks out from their solicited date. Shaner believes the case here is actually centered around getting the series closer to the premiere of the upcoming Shazam! Fury of the Gods movie. There’s also the Black Adam movie set to hit screens next July. With the change in plans, Campbell and Shaner’s comic now fits right in between the two movies, allowing the miniseries to run and potentially be collected in the months between, keeping the champions of Shazam in the public eye.

The delay of The Champion of Shazam is likely a disappointment to anyone hoping to witness Mary taking on the role of Shazam. However, it seems as though there’s still an interest in making sure her time as the new champion is seen. By shifting her solo comic a few months down the line, DC could be counting on the Black Adam and Shazam movies to bring in readers excited to see more stories related to the on-screen heroes. In any case, fans will just have to accept DC Comics’ delay of Mary Marvel‘s long-awaited ascension to the role of Shazam.

Source: GamesRadar, Twitter

About The Author