Shazam or Captain Marvel, which is the proper name?
Ok not to rude to you OP but after I clarified why many people (myself included) still call Marvel this happened
I did say that DC writers have been flip flopping for years but the "for years" part only started as a lead up to the New 52 in 2011, officially rebranding as Shazam in 2012. The thing is, I was wrong. He was only Captain Marvel up until 2012.
We can actually see the transition in two of his 3 last major on screen appearances (I'm grouping the live action movies as one appearance), Batman: the Brave and the Bold and the Young Justice cartoon.
In Brave and the Bold Captain Marvel is used exclusively, mostly because the name transition didn't start yet. The show started airing in 2008. Young Justice, on the other hand can show us when the official change happened. He was Captain Marvel till 2012, YJ started airing in 2011. For the first season Billy was Captain Marvel, in later ones he was called Shazam because DC told them to change it.
Billy hasn't been Shazam for decades, he's been Shazam for just over a decade. I'm only 19 and I remember him as Captain Marvel.
Many fans, myself included don't like calling him Shazam because The Wizard is Shazam. In the New 52 they rename the Wizard to Mamaragan so they don't have deal with the same name issues they created. The people who are writing Shazam/Captain Marvel right now are also not a fan of the name Shazam.
The writers of JLU and Mysteries of Shazam are bringing back the name Captain Marvel
(Ignore how crusty they are, I don't have these comics on my phone). Right now we have at least one run calling him Shazam, and two calling him Captain Marvel.
The runs that have The Captain as the main focus still brand it as Shazam because it's a legal matter. DC can't use the name Captain Marvel as part of a comic series because after they bought Whiz, and the Captain Marvel IP name got up for sale, Marvel bought the rights to it. DC couldn't use it in marketing anymore. This point of contention is a main factor for the push to call him Shazam by DC in the 2010's. It's so the name of the comic matches the name of the hero and me personally? I enjoy the fact that the names don't match up.
If you're gonna be rude to someone clarifying why a vast majority of a fandom still use the "incorrect" name, be prepared for the fact checking. Billy Batson has been Captain Marvel for over 70 years and Shazam for less than 20.
