The latest episode of Screen Rant's Pitch Meeting series takes aim at Black Adam. After nearly 15 years of Dwayne Johnson trying to get the movie made, Black Adam finally debuted in theaters this past weekend, giving The Rock his biggest opening ever. In the lead-up to its release, Johnson continually teased that Black Adam would change the hierarchy of power in the DC universe. Other than its eponymous antihero, Black Adam also introduces the Justice Society of America, including Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, and Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate.
Following Black Adam's world premiere earlier in the month, the first reactions to the DCEU movie began surfacing on social media, which largely praised Johnson's electric performance in the lead role. Once critics began sharing their full reviews, however, reactions began to sway negatively, with many criticizing the film's bad writing, including its uneven plot, underdeveloped characters, and uninspired dialogue. Black Adam's Rotten Tomatoes score is firmly in the 40 percent range, the DCEU's worst since 2017's Justice League. The audience reaction has been a completely different story, sitting at an impressive 90%, the highest for a DC movie since Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises.
Now, fresh off the movie's big opening weekend, Screen Rant's Pitch Meeting series is taking aim at Black Adam. The video imagines a satirical pitch meeting inside Warner Bros. studios that led to Black Adam and along the way, raises a few interesting questions about The Rock's long-awaited DC debut. Watch the new Pitch Meeting above.
Is Black Adam a Hero in the DCEU?
The Black Adam Pitch Meeting raises a lot of legitimate questions about the DCEU movie that is being excoriated by critics, but embraced by audiences. For instance, what is the purpose of Cyclone and Atom Smasher even being in the movie? The supporting characters end up bringing very little to the table. Also, why does Doctor Fate insist on dramatically removing his helmet? But most importantly, the Pitch Meeting raises the question – is Black Adam a hero in the DCEU?
If one were to take Black Adam at his word, he is certainly not a hero, considering he repeatedly says so in the movie. Digging a little deeper, nothing Black Adam does really disqualifies him from fitting the modern archetype of a superhero. Furthermore, the film frames Black Adam and the JSA as the good guys who take on the clearly evil Sabbac and the criminal organization Intergang. In actuality, Black Adam possesses a combination of heroic and villainous traits, hence why the term antihero is more suitable.
Source: Pitch Meeting
