James Gunn's recent DCU announcement regarding Henry Cavill's Superman makes the Black Adam post-credit scene deeply awkward. The scene teased a confrontation between Superman and Black Adam, but Cavill not returning as the Man of Steel ruins any chances of him squaring off against Dwayne Johnson's anti-hero. Cavill's exit is not only surprising as it affects the ending scene, but it also affects the future of Black Adam as well.

At the time of Black Adam's release, the return of Superman was exciting and introduced what could have been a bright future for the character and the DC Universe. Unfortunately, the DCU's rebranding now affects the franchise, as it will serve as a "new DCU" starting with a new Superman film featuring a brand-new actor. Since Superman is being rebooted yet again, his Black Adam cameo looks increasingly awkward, especially given the amount of hype that this scene was initially met with.

Related: Black Adam's Superman Cameo Did What Justice League 2017 Failed To

Black Adam's Post-Credits Scene's Superman Setup Is Already Dead

superman return canceled

The setup for Superman's return in the DCU no longer holds any water now that Henry Cavill is out as the superhero. Black Adam's ending scene thankfully didn't reveal too much about what Superman's comeback would have meant. But now that the DCU appears to be starting once again from scratch, seeing Superman and Black Adam interacting won't happen again any time soon, and it has killed any anticipation that the post-credit scene once provided. Cavill had teased just after his appearance in Black Adam that his cameo was “a very small taste of what’s to come”, but the new DC Studios plan means that a new interpretation of the character will be seen instead.

With the DC Extended Universe coming to an untimely close in 2023 with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, anything produced by DC Studios will likely not be a continuation of any DCEU projects. Therefore, the chances of a Black Adam sequel are unlikely and won't pay off the film's ending sequence. James Gunn may have saved DC, but the controversial decision to focus on a new Superman means that a DC storyline will have to end before it really began.

How Black Adam's Post-Credits Scene Aged So Bad So Quickly

superman cameo fail

The single post-credit scene in Black Adam set up a confrontation between Superman and Black Adam, since it had "been a while since anyone's made the world this nervous" and set up that the pair had a plot-based future impending. Because this sequence will probably not get to be paid off in the near future, it's gone on to age terribly in a short period of time, partially due to Henry Cavill announcing his Superman return a few days after Black Adam's theatrical release. During that same weekend, James Gunn was also confirmed to helm DC Studios, which seemed like the perfect time to have Cavill build up anticipation for his continued tenure as Superman.

Black Adam's final scene was meant to set up a new era for the DCEU, but it instead ended Henry Cavill's Superman future. Instead of kicking off exciting future DC storylines, the sequence will instead probably be remembered as a "what could have been" moment. The fact that Cavill's run as the Man of Steel has come to an end less than two months after his initial return had been announced adds more fuel to the fire that the Black Adam post-credit scene is more uncomfortable now than it ever should have been.

Next: Henry Cavill's Superman Exit Explained: 9 Biggest Questions Answered

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