The latest big twist in “The Darkseid War” arc running in Justice League saw heroes like Superman, Batman and the Flash take the places of some of the New Gods following the death of Darkseid. What wasn’t as clear was what was happening to Shazam, a character who’s very familiar with a different set of gods. After becoming the “God of Gods” in Justice League #45, Earth’s Mightiest Mortal took off, apparently unsure how to handle a new set of voices in his head.

His story continues this week in Justice League: Darkseid War: Shazam! #1 by writer Steve Orlando and artist Scott Kolins. Put simply, the deities who usually give Billy Batson his powers have been forcibly ejected from the mix, and new gods are battling for control of Shazam — and possibly with their own agendas for Batson.

“Gods and men are both subject to their own egos, so the idea behind it is the drive and the conflict and the mad scramble to find a new pantheon for Billy once his power is interrupted by the death of Darkseid,” Orlando told Bam Smack Pow in a recent phone interview. “Not all gods are as altruistic as the original ones powering Shazam, so some of them see this as an opportunity toward their own ends, some of them see it as a passing interest, and some of them really look at him as kind of a curio.”

When originally solicited, the one-shot teased the idea of Shazam as a receptacle for New Gods like Highfather and Mantis. That would have been an interesting enough development to warrant some exploration, but Orlando and Kolins went a step further and decided to create their own mix of cosmic beings as Batson’s new pantheon.

The result is an eclectic mix of what Orlando calls gods from “columns A, B and C,” one that includes beings firmly rooted in the New 52, established DC characters who haven’t been seen for a while and gods from world mythology who are being introduced to DC Comics for the first time.

It’s a learning experience for the reader as much as it is for Batson, and it’s one that Orlando, who spent time during college studying Russian folklore in Russia, is happy to provide.

“There are some gods from world mythology that haven’t really been given the Thor treatment or the Jack Kirby treatment, so we took those and wanted to do our own sort of slant on bringing some new gods into the DC universe,” he said. “Being able to expand the pantheon, not just to the classic Greek gods, the classic Roman-esque gods or the pantheons you normally see in comics, and showing that there’s something else out there, I think was really, really exciting, and seeing Scott redesign them in these insane Jack Kirby costumes was also really cool for me.”

With Billy scrambling to prove his mettle and simply figure out his new benefactors, Orlando also seized an opportunity to continue fleshing out the connection between Billy and the Wizard, noting that while it started out as a somewhat antagonistic pairing in the New 52, it’s obviously one in which the Wizard believes.

“As I sort of read back everything that’s happened with Shazam, it’s really about Billly and the Wizard,” Orlando said. “Realistically, there’s got to be a reason why this guy sees something in Billy. And as they’re connected, and become more connected, like any sort of pseudo father and son, there’s more there than just a business relationship, so we sort of unpack that too.”

At the end of the day, though, Orlando says he was motivated to tell this story primarily to satisfy his inner nerd, the one who’s had the cosmic hierarchy of the DC Universe memorized since age 10. Not only is he thrilled with “who’s behind the curtain with Shazam after the end of the book,” he’s also proud to make his own contribution to the tales of gods and men that began with the King himself.

“It’s all one greater world, and so being able to show there’s a Kirby crackle behind everything in the DCU, I couldn’t be more excited to do that,” Orlando said.

Justice League: Darkseid War: Shazam #1 hits stores and digital on Wednesday, November 11.