It seems that the dark beginnings of Black Adam makes him the chilling opposite of one notable Marvel Cinematic Universe hero. In 52 #12, Teth-Adam bares his soul about what sent him down his dark path, a path a certain Marvel hero could have ventured.
Thousands of years before Billy Batson was selected by the wizard Shazam to be his Champion and the greatest protector of magic, a slave named Teth-Adam was granted that position. However, the wizard chose in haste, and the hero he'd chosen used his powers to take lives rather than protect them. Black Adam was banished for several millennia until the wizard had finally passed, and a new Champion roamed the Earth. Since returning, Black Adam has walked the line between hero and villain, allying himself with whoever suits his needs in a given moment, making him one of the most dangerous magical beings alive.
Black Adam Became A Much Worse Version Of Spider-Man
However, an admission from the antihero reveals why Adam has chosen to go down the road he has, and it puts a dark twist on an iconic Marvel hero. In 52 #12 by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid, Keith Giffen, and Eddy Barrows, Black Adam aids a village in Kahndaq by rerouting a river to provide them with fresh water. A native named Adrianna Tomaz discusses the way Black Adam has chosen to use his power by executing people and insists he can do better. But Adam says he has a good reason for doing what he does and takes Adrianna to a temple where Black Adam has a monument to his wife and sons. Adam tells Adrianna that his family was murdered by an enemy Adam failed to kill years earlier and that he kills to spare others of the pain he endures.
Fans may recall Spider-Man’s origin in which he intentionally didn’t stop a robber, only for that same man to kill Peter’s Uncle Ben. The death was the cornerstone of the wall-crawler’s beginnings, as it cemented the relationship of power and responsibility in Spider-Man’s mind forever. However, Black Adam appears to have taken a much different lesson from his experience. Despite the similarities in their origins, two very different heroes came out such traumatic events.
Black Adam Is Spider-Man's Dark Reflection
The loss of a family member can change a hero forever. And in Black Adam and Spider-Man’s case, they’re cursed with knowledge that they could have prevented their family’s deaths. Spider-Man used Uncle Ben’s death as a reminder that he can’t pick and choose when he helps, and it turned him into a hero whose biggest value is his tendency to self-sacrifice. Black Adam, on the other hand, changed nothing about his murderous ways, and was only emboldened to try harder and prevent others from enduring his trauma. In a way, Teth-Adam represents a dark path that Spider-Man could have gone down. Had Peter not had the words of Uncle Ben to guide him, the Marvel Cinematic Universe hero could very well have ended up like Black Adam.