The upcoming Black Adam could position its titular anti-hero as the DCEU's equivalent of the Regime Superman from Injustice: Gods Among Us. With filming on Black Adam currently underway following a development period since 2008 (and a COVID-19 delay), the marketing for the movie has boasted Black Adam's arrival as representing a power shift in the DC Universe. While the movie will see the debut of the Justice Society of America, that shift also seems to be heavily directed at Henry Cavill's Superman.
Johnson has repeatedly teased the possibility of an eventual battle royale between his Black Adam and Cavill's Superman, including at 2020's DC FanDome. While Cavill's Superman future has been a big question mark for some time now, speculation has also recently begun to arise that he may be making appearances in numerous upcoming DC movies, including Black Adam. Whether that ends up being the case is still unknown, but aside from representing a highly formidable enemy for Cavill's Kal-El, Johnson's Black Adam would also be a fitting opponent for how much he reflects the portrayal of the Regime Superman in the Injustice comics and video games.
Audiences have already gotten a taste of what an Injustice-style movie could look like through elements of Zack Snyder's DCEU films, but Black Adam is also a surprisingly close kindred spirit to the idea of the Last Son of Krypton with a much more brutal definition of justice. Should Cavill's return as Superman happen, the potential Kryptonian-Kahndaqi showdown could also end up being a modified adaptation of Injustice. Here's how Black Adam could be the DCEU's Injustice Superman, and what that could mean for Superman and Black Adam finally facing off.
Black Adam's Sense Of Justice Is Similar To Regime Superman's
Dwayne Johnson has repeatedly emphasized Black Adam's much harsher sense of justice as a would-be hero. As seen in the DC FanDome concept trailer, Teth-Adam was a slave in the ancient nation of Kahndaq, and was bestowed with the powers of the gods and led a slave revolt as Black Adam. However, his methods met with the god's disapproval, leading to his imprisonment for 5,000 years. Adam is eventually released from his prison and will find his unrestrained brand of justice at odds with the Justice Society of America.
The Injustice comics and video games similarly pushed Superman to his breaking point when the Joker tricked him into killing the pregnant Lois Lane and destroying Metropolis. After killing the Joker, Superman felt his old methods weren't enough, leading him to form the One Earth Regime and become a dictator enforcing a new brand of uncompromising justice. Based on the way Johnson has positioned Black Adam, the titular anti-hero seems to see himself and his concept of justice very similarly to the Regime Superman, including acting like a dictator dispensing ruthless penalties over villains in Kahndaq. His release from his imprisonment after 5,000 years seems likely to see him attempt to re-establish his old brand of literal take-no-prisoners justice.
Zack Snyder's Knightmare Future Adapts Elements Of Injustice, But Not All Of It
Of course, the DCEU has already presented an adaptation of sorts of Injustice in the Knightmare future in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zack Snyder's Justice League, but this wasn't a direct adaptation of Injustice. While the death of Lois Lane still plays a central role, this comes at the hands of Darkseid, who uses the Anti-Life Equation to bring the emotionally destroyed Superman under his control. This was to form the basis for Snyder's intended Justice League 2, with Batman sending The Flash back in time on the Cosmic Treadmill to avert the Knightmare future, freeing Superman of Darkseid's control and setting the stage for Justice League 3, with the world being led by Superman in the last stand against Darkseid. In contrast, the Injustice version of events sees Batman bringing the heroes from Earth-Prime into the Injustice universe, including Superman, leading to the defeat of the Regime Superman.
While Snyder's Knightmare timeline took the basic Injustice template of Superman going bad and Batman leading a resistance against him, it was telling its own specific version of that story. Batman v Superman similarly told an original story built upon elements of The Dark Knight Returns and The Death of Superman without being a literal page-to-screen adaptation of their stories, and when it comes to comic book movies, this is usually the more practical route of creating adaptations of popular arcs adapted to fit within already established franchises. Since the specific background of Superman's Injustice story hasn't been utilized in the DCEU, Black Adam could be the perfect character to tackle the story of a hero coming to view empathy as a weakness and capital justice as the only effective alternative. This could also have big implications for how he and Superman could come face-to-face in an Injustice-inspired battle.
What This Could Mean For A Black Adam-Superman Showdown
This leads right into the prospect of a battle between The Rock's Black Adam and Henry Cavill's Superman as teased by Johnson. While Cavill's future as the Man of Steel has been up in the air, his Superman recently received a surge of renewed love from his appearance in Zack Snyder's Justice League, which could make even a cameo in Black Adam something well worth considering for Warner Bros. This could set the stage for the eventual Black Adam-Superman showdown that Johnson has long hinted at, and this could also function as its own rough adaptation of a key element of Injustice.
With Batman bringing the Earth-Prime heroes over to the world of Injustice, Superman is ultimately the one to defeat the Regime Superman. While Black Adam is no Kryptonian, his and Superman's opposition could work in a similar "Battle of the Supermen" kind of way, with Adam as the DCEU equivalent of the Regime Superman trying to enforce justice in the world by becoming its dictator and Cavill's Superman standing opposed to him. Since Johnson's Black Adam also isn't likely to permanently be an antagonist, Superman could also even be the deciding factor in him becoming, if not a kinder hero, than at least one more willing to work alongside the more stalwart DC heroes.
With DC movies and TV shows now also co-existing a Multiverse, Black Adam even has a great deal of flexibility in how it could integrate Cavill's Superman into its story. Zack Snyder has commented that Black Adam could theoretically fit within the parameters of his DC movie arc, which was very likely music to the ears of #RestoreTheSnyderVerse advocates (even as Warner Bros. has downplayed more SnyderVerse movies). By the same token, with Injustice itself involving Multiverse elements in pitting two Supermen against each other, bringing Cavill's Superman into the world of Johnson's Black Adam similarly to the Multiverse-facilitated appearance of Michael Keaton's Batman in The Flash could bring the two face-to-face just as easily.
Black Adam's long road to the big screen is finally unfolding with his solo movie's debut in the summer of 2022. The prospect of Henry Cavill's Superman appearing would be a huge deal for the movie and the future of both Superman and Black Adam in the DCEU, but it could also set up a conceptual Injustice adaptation with a future showdown between the two. Should Cavill's Superman return as a force of heroism, Johnson's title character in Black Adam could effectively embody the Regime Superman of Injustice, adding another layer to a potentially very thunderous showdown of Supermen.
