Okay!

Modern fans and writers have said that Captain Marvel should behave like a man-child "because he's literally a kid."

Why is it so important for Billy to be mature?

Because the whole idea behind Billy Batson and Captain Marvel is that he's NOT just any kid.

He's special. https://twitter.com/LetsTalkCM/status/1355675443668676613

From his backstory to his wish fulfillment appeal to the internal logic of his powers to the character's true metaphorical representation, they all dictate that Billy Batson has to be mature.

Let's start with the backstory.

Before the age of 12 — likely around the age of 8 — Billy Batson was an orphaned child who had his inheritance stolen and was kicked out onto the streets by his cruel step-uncle (WHIZ Comics #2).

Left with nothing, Billy Batson had to survive in a city of millions completely on his own.

To do so, he had to grow up awfully fast.

And he did.

For years, Billy survived completely on his own, getting a job as a paper boy to buy food and clothes while living in a subway.

In addition, at 12 years of age, Billy Batson got himself a job as a radio reporter. To be able to get - and keep that job - Billy’s maturity would have to belie his age (Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #2).

Billy then parlayed that job into a career as a self-made radio celebrity, which by itself also brings up another need for Billy Batson to be mature:

It takes extraordinary maturity to handle the celebrity lifestyle, something even many adults struggle with.

Yet, Billy Batson, at the age of 12, manages to do just that.

Why?

How?

Because, again, Billy Batson is mature FAR beyond his years, his maturity having been survival-tested on the streets of a major city.

Because of that fact, Billy, at a very young age is able to handle it.

On top of all of that, here’s something just as important to account for in Billy Batson’s backstory when considering his maturity level:

Billy Batson didn’t get his powers by accident; HE WAS CHOSEN.

By a 5,000 year-old wizard.

This ancient wizard bestowed upon Billy Batson the vast powers of gods with one of those powers being THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON (more on that below in the last section) for a job where Billy was given the responsibility of being all of mankind’s protector.

This was a job where Billy would be called upon to selflessly save and defend the world everyday, and he was tasked with doing it with no reward or thanks.

That's a huge responsibility for any adult.

Even more so for a child.

But that's the whole idea.

Whoever Shazam chose HAD to be special.

And Billy Batson is. He's more competent than most adults.

Think about the incredible level of maturity a 12-year old would have to possess to live up to the day-to-day responsibilities of that kind of job.

Furthermore, the entire world would be at this 12-year old’s mercy.

Let’s for a second pretend that Captain Marvel was not an adult with an adult mind like he originally was and that instead, he always and originally had the mind of teenaged Billy Batson…

Captain Marvel is so insanely powerful that the entire world needs to count on him to be mature and to have the behavioral and emotional wherewithal to keep himself in check or they’re screwed.

So… knowing this, would you, a 5,000-year old wizard, choose such a champion and give him the powers of gods and the responsibilities that came with it if he was immature?

…

That’s what I thought.

Additionally, I daresay that if Billy Batson had been immature, it would have been grounds for disqualification.

That’s why, when you factor in Billy Batson’s backstory, it dictates that Billy is not just supposed to be, but NEEDS to be mature far beyond his years.

Otherwise, the immature man-child angle contradicts the backstory so much that it essentially becomes harder to believe than a man who can fly.

And that's without getting into the metaphorical aspect that Captain Marvel represents (he represents the inner child, which means the whole idea behind him is that he's about having the heart of a child, not the mind of one) as well as the internal logic of his powers.

And make no mistake, I will get into that below later.

Let's talk about the metaphorical aspect of the character and the reason why it's important that Billy Batson be mature.

Captain Marvel is the metaphor for the inner child.

He's about having the heart of a child, not the mind of one.

In other words, child-like, not childish.

Writers in recent years have had this inexplicable urge to make Captain Marvel an immature man-child.

They seem to think that immaturity makes Captain Marvel a lot more fun(ny) and interesting.

But they'd be wrong.

Why’s that?

Well, let's answer that with a question: Does being an adult make you less fun or less capable of being or having fun?

No.

Why not?

Because maturity does not preclude having an inner child.

Take a moment to think about that, because that is a powerful truth to behold once you realize it.

The inner child is the source of our child-like wonder, that innocent sense of awe and fun.

Now, don’t confuse having an inner child as being immature because nothing could be further from the truth.

Why’s that?

Because immaturity implies behavioral non-growth.

That’s why when we get older, whenever we indulge our inner child and get in touch with our child-like awe and sense of fun, we grow, which...

... Is what maturity is all about.

So no matter matter how old we get or how mature we become, we all have that inner child inside of us, and that inner child is who we really are.

It’s the difference between being “child-like” and “childish.”

That's the reason why the metaphor that Captain Marvel — who has a child inside him — actually represents is the inner child.

And again, Captain Marvel is an adult with the heart of a child, NOT the mind of one.

That's why it's important.

Captain Marvel protects the world with a man’s mind, but he does so with the heart of a child. That’s what makes Captain Marvel the ultimate metaphor for the inner child.

Why else do you think Captain Marvel is the paragon of brightness and optimism that he is, arguably more so than Superman?

Yep, his inner child, which Fawcett Publications knew.

When Roscoe Fawcett ordered the creation of Captain Marvel, he said, “Give me a Superman, only have his other identity be a 10- to 12-year-old boy rather than a grown man.”

Why, though? Why did he specifically want a child? Why not an adult?

Because he was going off of a survey in which the largest audience for superheroes was 10- to 12-year-old boys.

Ask yourself this:

How do you best cater to an age demographic?

Simple, you give them a character who they can (loosely) identify with as being around their age.

Captain Marvel came loaded with a secret alter ego who was secretly a kid just like them.

That, and he carried with him the same wish fulfillment appeal that his adult superhero peers had, which were superpowers that made him the mightiest person in the whole world.

It was two fantasies in one and it was brilliant.

Is it any wonder that readers who discover classic Captain Marvel as kids almost always seem to fall in love with him?

Summarily, any time that Captain Marvel is portrayed as an immature man-child, the very metaphor that he so adequately represents is defeated.

In a little bit, to finish the rest of this mega-thread, I'll talk about why Captain Marvel's powers dictate that he, and for that matter, Billy be mature.

Okay!

Time to finish this thread!

Why the Wisdom of Solomon as a superpower makes the immature man-child non-computable!

As many of you now know... originally and traditionally, Captain Marvel was an adult with an adult mind for the majority of his existence.

It wouldn’t be until after post-Crisis that a version of the character retained the mind of Billy Batson.

For the purposes of discussing the Wisdom of Solomon, we'll be dealing with the versions of Captain Marvel that has young Billy Batson's mind.

The reason for this is to show why it's okay for Captain Marvel to have Billy's mind, but not okay for him to be an immature man-child.

Before I explain how, let’s first define the Wisdom of Solomon as a superpower.

What is it and what does it do?

The Wisdom of Solomon is a superpower that grants Captain Marvel three primary abilities:

1) All of mankind’s wisdom (basically, the ability to make the right choice).

2) All of mankind’s knowledge (essentially a Wikipedia of all knowledge in the history of mankind on tap).

3) The greatest IQ in the universe (super-intelligence, in other words).

(Note: The Wisdom of Solomon grants Captain Marvel other secondary abilities, such as being able to sense evil in enchanted objects, but the three abilities above are the primary ones that it gives Captain Marvel.)

And before I explain the problem with the man-child angle as it pertains to the Wisdom of Solomon, I need to also note an important fact of the original Captain Marvel...

In the Golden Age, the Wisdom of Solomon didn’t alter Captain Marvel’s personality or maturity level from Billy Batson’s.

Why is this important?

Because wisdom is a byproduct of maturity.

With super-wisdom as a superpower, it would dictate that Captain Marvel behave, think, and act maturely.

And Captain Marvel was mature.

Since there was no personality change, it meant that Billy was mature.

Going further, with wisdom as a superpower, the man-child angle conflicts with the internal logic of it.

I say this because even if if Billy Batson WERE immature, the Wisdom of Solomon would change his personality to the point that as Captain Marvel, he was mature.

Imagine you were physically weak… if you were given super-strength, you wouldn’t stay weak, would you?

No, you’d be strong.

Well, that’s exactly how the Wisdom of Solomon would work for a person who was immature.

Let me remind you:

The Wisdom of Solomon grants Captain Marvel all of the combined wisdom of the greatest people in history as a superpower.

Knowing that, the Wisdom of Solomon would alter Captain Marvel’s personality from Billy’s if the latter was immature.

That’s why making Captain Marvel an immature man-child conflicts with the Wisdom of Solomon.

So when writers make Billy Batson immature and and then have him retain it as Captain Marvel (or as New 52 Shazam), they're doing something akin giving Billy Batson an allergy that he still has even as Captain Marvel.

Of course, we know that Captain Marvel wouldn't have any of Billy's allergies simply because the Power of Zeus grants Captain Marvel his invulnerability and immunity against any and all earthly disease.

No disease or condition can afflict him (Captain Marvel Adventures #88).

Thus... if Billy transforms into Captain Marvel and still has that allergy, then he wouldn’t have complete invulnerability, would he?

Now you see, don’t you?

If Captain Marvel is an immature man-child, you give him a massive conflict with the internal logic of his powers that is virtually impossible to reconcile simply because an immature person is less likely to heed (much less possess) wisdom while a mature person is.

In summation, you can give Captain Marvel young Billy Batson’s mind, but the conflict comes when he is not written properly, where he is portrayed as an immature man-child.