[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superman_shazam_the_return_of_black_adam_7720.jpg]]

Life is tough for young [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Billy Batson]]. Orphaned and alone, he lives in a dingy neighborhood in a seedy part of town, with rats for pets and little food or commodities. Still, he tries to live by the words of his now-deceased father: "Be good and good things will happen to you", and keeps an upbeat attitude, even complimenting his prostitute neighbor on her appearance and standing up to a gang of punks mugging a homeless man, despite the [[CurbStompBattle predictable outcome]]. He hopes an article being written about him by intrepid Daily Planet reporter [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Clark Kent]] will help him out of his predicament.

Unfortunately, Billy's luck takes a turn for the worse when a powerful being called ComicBook/BlackAdam comes crashing from the sky with only one goal in mind: Billy's death. Because of his vulnerability to magic, not even the mighty Superman is a match for him, but a strange encounter with an immortal wizard will grant Billy the power of five gods in order to become the new champion of justice: Captain Marvel!

This original short was released as the main "feature" of a compilation of the DC Showcase shorts released with recent WesternAnimation/DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies, along with ''WesternAnimation/DCShowcaseTheSpectre'', ''WesternAnimation/DCShowcaseJonahHex'' and ''WesternAnimation/DCShowcaseGreenArrow''.

Despite the similar name, it is not an adaptation from the first crossover between both characters, ''ComicBook/SupermanVsShazam''.

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!!This short contains examples of:
%%* AbusiveParents: Well, ''foster'' parents anyway.
* AdaptationalBadass: To date, Superman and Black Adam have fought many times in the comics but none of those battles have ever ended conclusively with one standing triumphantly over the other and they usually get interrupted before they can proceed further. However, it is implied narrative-wise that if Superman decides to get serious, he can really put the beatdown on Black Adam despite his magical power since Superman's been able to decisively defeat characters such as The-Shazam-Who-Laughs or Ultraman that have destroyed Black Adam in fights. In this short, Black Adam's magic against Superman is the difference maker in defeating him and Superman has to rely on Captain Marvel's help to be able to take on Black Adam, who's ''much'' more effective in bringing Superman down in this incarnation than in the comics.
* AdaptationalVillainy: Black Adam lacks any of his more redeeming qualities, and is far more psychotic and arrogant here, willing to kill innocents just so that he could kill Billy and take away his powers, at one point even threatening to kill a female hostage and use her as leverage to make Billy revert back to human form, and doesn't even try to deny that he wants this done so that he would kill him.
* BashBrothers: In contrast to their [[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague previous]] [[WesternAnimation/SupermanBatmanPublicEnemies media]] [[LetsYouAndHimFight appearances together,]] Superman and Captain Marvel are undoubtedly this. At one point they find a nice rhythm and pretty much take turns knocking Adam silly.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: [[spoiler:Black Adam commits suicide rather than be banished back to empty space.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Captain Marvel may be one of the nicest superheroes out there, but as Black Adam learned the hard way, once you have made him angry, it will not end well for you.
* BigBad: Black Adam, Shazam's former champion who's on a vengeful rampage after being exiled.
%%* BookEnds: The short
%%* TheChosenOne: Billy Batson
* CurbStompBattle:
** The street punk knocks down Billy Batson with a single blow.
** Also what happens to Black Adam once he pushes Billy too far.
* DeathByDepower: [[spoiler:Black Adam chooses to depower and age to death rather than being banished again.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:ComicBook/BlackAdam chose letting go of his powers and rapidly aging to dust in a mere instant over being sent to a corner of the universe it'd take him ten thousand years to get back from.]]
* FaceHeelTurn: Black Adam was Shazam's previous champion before he turned to evil 5000 years ago.
* FateWorseThanDeath
* AGodAmI: Black Adam is absolutely ''convinced'' that despite the recent circumstances, he has powers similar to Shazam, so by that logic, he [[InsaneTrollLogic automatically must be a god himself]].
* HowDoIShotWeb: Billy triggers his transformation the first time by accident. And ''de''activates them by accident. [[GravityIsAHarshMistress While flying.]] This doubles as a MythologyGag as he did the same thing in the ''Power Of Shazam'' graphic novel that rebooted him in the 80s.
%%* HeroicBSOD: Billy suffers a brief one.
%%* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Billy is friends with a hooker.
* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: Captain Marvel almost killed Black Adam, but Superman talked him out of it. Reminding him of what his parents taught him.
* KickTheDog: Black Adam purposely changes course to kill a couple having a romantic evening on a hill.
* LimitedWardrobe: Billy is shown to have multiple copies of the same shirt and pants hanging in the closet.
%%* MagicalNegro: [[spoiler:Tawny in his human form.]]
* MuggingTheMonster: The bullies at the end.
--> '''Punk:''' It's the hero. Oh, and look at that. Hero's got nothing to say. [[TemptingFate Come on, say something. I dare you. Come on, just one word.]]\\
* ''Billy smiles. View of city as lightning strikes. Roll credits.''*
* MythologyGag: Superman trying to stop the flood from a broken dam like in ''Film/SupermanTheMovie''.
%%* NeckLift: Black Adam to a random woman, and later Captain Marvel to Black Adam.
* NoImmortalInertia: [[spoiler:Faced with the prospect of getting zapped back to outer space, twice as far away as the first time, Black Adam reverts to his mortal self and instantly ages into dust.]]
* OhCrap: Black Adam gives a delicious one when he realized Captain Marvel is holding him in one place for Superman to hit him with a MegatonPunch.
* PluckyGirl: Even with all these hardships facing him, Billy does his best to do good things and help others.
* RapidAging: [[spoiler:Black Adam. "Aged 5,000 years in a single moment. Harsh."]]
* SadisticChoice: Black Adam forces Captain Marvel into one of these, stating that either Cap revert back to normal or Adam will kill a civilian. When Cap powers down to sacrifice himself for the woman, Adam attempts to kill them both anyway. Unfortunately for Adam, Superman was on hand to rescue them both, and this act ultimately resulted in Billy unleashing a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on Adam.
* ShockwaveClap: Black Adam opens his attack on the unpowered Billy with one, demolishing the shop he and Clark were in
* {{Shoryuken}}: CM delivers a ''flying'' one to Black Adam when he finds his HeroicResolve.
* ShoutOut: a fight sequence between Black Adam and Captain Marvel emulates the exact same movements of a fight scene from ''Film/UndisputedIILastManStanding''. A comparison can be seen [[https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/7zit7v/the_fight_scene_from_shazam_the_return_of_black/#bottom-comments here]].
* SoftWater: Captain Marvel was flying above buildings when he accidentally reverts to Billy and plummets to the river below, yet hitting the water does not seem to harm him in any way. He does have trouble swimming back up however.
%%* SuperHeroOrigin: For Captain Marvel.
* TerminalTransformation: Black Adam has been in supermode for thousands of years as he returns to Earth from deep space where he was banished. This means that his original mortal form Teth-Adam is long, long dead. So, when Tawny threatens to send him even farther into space, Adam commits suicide by transforming back into Teth-Adam: [[NoImmortalInertia the desiccated corpse quickly breaks down into dust and blows away]].
* TheWorfEffect: Supes spends much of the short as Adam's punching bag due to his weakness to magic, which serves the purpose of demonstrating both Black Adam's ability and why Captain Marvel is needed.
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