Almost 80 years after his first appearance in the comics, Black Adam will finally hit the big screen on October 21st. He will be played by none other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who was rumored to play the character years before his cast was finally announced in 2014. Black Adam was originally set to make his film debut in 2019’s Shazam! cinema; however, in January 2017, DC announced that he would be making a solo film instead, and this news only made fans even more excited to see the character’s long-awaited introduction to the DC Cinematic Universe.
We’ve already looked at “Black Adam” movie via several trailers and teaser videos. In the second trailer, which was released on September 8th, we see that the superhero team known as the Justice Society of America will fight against Black Adam in the film. If you are not familiar with the origin of Black Adam from the comics , you might be wondering if he’s really a villain, well the answer is quite complicated and let’s explain why.
Who is Black Adam?
In the comics, Black Adam is an ancient Egyptian named Tet-Adam who was given magical powers by the wizard Shazam in hopes that Black Adam would use his powers to fight evil. Instead, Black Adam is absorbed by his powers and ends up killing Shazam. Because of his betrayal, Black Adam was banished to a distant star and spends the next 5,000 years returning to Earth. Once he returns, he realizes that Shazam has chosen new successors, including Billy Batson (as seen in “Shazam!”), who becomes his constant enemy.
However, the Black Adam trailer teases a different origin story for the character. In the film version, Black Adam was born a slave and was executed, but was brought back to life thanks to his son sacrificing his own life for his father’s. Black Adam returns with a special power he calls “the curse”. So, unlike the comics where Black Adam revels in his new powers, in the movie he seems to have complicated feelings about his powers.
What are Black Adam’s powers?
Tet-Adam must say the word “Shazam” to transform into Black Adam and use the power of the six Egyptian gods. Shu gives him endurance, Heru gives him speed, Amon gives him strength, Zehuti gives him wisdom, Aton gives him strength, and Mehen gives him courage. In case you haven’t noticed, the names of the gods are spelled out by Shazam.
Is Black Adam a villain?
While Black Adam has been both a villain and a hero in the DC comics, the film seems to reimagine him as more of an anti-hero. In the trailers, Hawkman, a hero who is a member of the Justice Society of America, tells Black Adam, “There are heroes and there are villains in this world. Heroes don’t kill people.” Black Adam then replies, “Well, I am.” Although it’s easy to call him a villain, Johnson called the character an anti-hero on social media.
The YouTube description for the second Black Adam trailer also features the tagline, “There are heroes, there are villains, and there is Black Adam,” hinting that he is somewhere in between a hero and a villain, as an antihero is a hero who does not display particularly heroic qualities. This could tease Black Adam, who may make some questionable decisions in the film. Although it’s possible that DC could officially make Black Adam a villain by the end of the movie, so far it seems like he’s just an anti-hero.