This article contains spoilers for Black AdamBlack Adam hit theaters and brought one of DC's most powerful antiheroes to the big screen. The movie follows similar storylines as those found in 52 and Black Reign. In those storylines, Adam returned and set out to free his home country of Khandaq.
The movie also brought back the relationship between Black Adam and the Justice Society of America, but it did it differently. There were also characters brought into the story that existed in the comics, but looked nothing like their comic book versions. While there are several similarities in the storylines, the Black Adam movie made some serious changes to characters from the comics, both with the heroes and the supporting cast.
Karim
In the movie, Karim was mostly a slacker who helped his sister Adrianna and two other friends battle covertly to help Khandaq. While "Karim" wasn't in the comics, he was a different version of a man named Amon Tomaz.
Amon was Adrianna's brother in the comics, and he was an important person in Black Adam's life. In the comics, he wasn't helping his sister because he was an enslaved person until Black Adam rescued him. After Black Adam gave him powers, he then became Osiris.
Cyclone
Cyclone changed completely for the Black Adam movie. In the movie, she was a young genius and hero, who was kidnapped by a dangerous scientist when she was a teenager. The scientist added nanobots to her body, and she used them to create cyclone-like winds and storms.
While using the same name, Black Adam didn't show the true version of Cyclone. In the comics, she was Red Tornado's granddaughter, and she inherited his powers to create storms. There were no nanobots involved, and she didn't gain her powers from a dangerous scientist (so the movie changed her origin and her powers).
Atom Smasher
Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), in the movie, was a young and excitable hero named Al Rothstein. It was his uncle who served as Atom Smasher in the Justice Society of America in their glory days. In the movie, Al replaced his uncle in the role.
The big difference here was that Atom Smasher was not a veteran hero from the JSA. Instead, he was an inexperienced hero who made a few too many mistakes. While wide-eyed and enthusiastic, this wasn't the Atom Smasher from the comics.
Adrianna Tomaz
Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) was a former professor who quit her job to save her country of Kahndaq from the evil Intergang criminal organization. She had a brother, two friends, and a young son, who helped her as they avoided authorities and sought to stop Intergang from finding the Crown of Sabbac.
In the comics, she had a very different story. She was an enslaved person who Intergang offered to Black Adam for his pleasure. After Adam killed her captors, the two eventually fell in love and got married. Black Adam also gave her powers, making her the new Isis.
Hurut
Hurut (Jalon Christian) was not in the comics, but he was based on someone who was in the books, and it was a close similarity. The opening flashback in Black Adam showed a young man, who wanted to find freedom for his country, and most thought he would become Black Adam (although this wasn't the case).
In the movie, he was Adam's son. He sacrificed himself to save his dad and transferred his powers to Adam before dying. In the comics, he wasn't Adam's son, but his nephew named Aman, who died after Adam killed him and stole his powers.
Sabbac
Sabbac (Marwan Kenzari) ended up as the main villain at the end of Black Adam. In the movie, fans saw Black Adam battling Intergang and the Justice Society of America. However, what they didn't know was that one of Adrianna's friends, Ishmael Gregor, had evil plans.
When Ishmael Betrayed Adrianna, he gained the crown and became Sabbac. Ishmael is also Sabbac in the comics, and while he didn't get his powers in a battle with Black Adam, the source of his powers is the same. Black Adam also closely matches his comic book design in the movie.
Black Adam
Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) remained very close to his character from the comics. Forget about the old villain character from the Golden Age and pre-Crisis comic books, this character is based on the Black Adam starting in the 52 series (the man who wanted nothing more than to free his home country and help the people rise to prosperity).
There were changes. Black Adam, in the comics, killed his nephew and stole his powers, while the movie version's son saved his life by giving him his powers. He was just as ruthless in the movie as he was in the comics, but was a little more comedic than the comic book version ever dared. It might not be completely accurate, but fans are overall satisfied with the way he depicted the anti-hero.
Doctor Fate
Pierce Brosnan was fantastic as Doctor Fate. In the comics, Kent Nelson was a true hero, and when he put on Fate's helmet, he became almost godlike. In the movie, he remained true to Kent, even if he never went into full god mode with the helmet on.
There might not be a better actor for Doctor Fate than Brosnan. He ended up as one of the highlights of the movie and his actions at the end were worthy of the legendary DC hero.
Hawkman
Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) in the Black Adam movie was a very close representation of the character from the comics. There have been several iterations of Hawkman in entertainment, and this was closer than both the Legends of Tomorrow and Smallville characters.
In the comics, Hawkman is almost more of a soldier and unwavering law enforcement officer than a superhero. He wants no nonsense and sees his mission and takes it on without questioning it. That is the Black Adam version, and he matched the comic character perfectly.
Amanda Waller
Viola Davis was back once again as Amanda Waller. If anyone really embodied what the comic book character was like, it was Davis as this sadistic and vindictive government agent.
Waller made her presence known in both Suicide Squad movies, where she rarely cared if her charges lived or died. She crossed paths with Bruce Wayne once, and she was back here, demanding her charges follow her will to the letter. While she looks different from the original Waller in comics, DC changed her look recently to fall in line with the DCEU and Viola Davis portrays exactly who Amanda Waller is in the comics.