Dwayne Johnson joins the DC Extended Universe with Black Adam, and here's an explanation of The Rock's DC superhero. The hope of Dwayne Johnson playing Black Adam began more than a decade ago when the WWE star set his sights on playing the DC character. For the longest time, the plan for Johnson's DCEU debut was as the villain in Shazam!. It was later announced that the clash between Shazam and Black Adam would wait, as the studios wanted to put The Rock in a starring role in a solo movie instead.
Development on Black Adam took several years to finally get off the ground. Jaume Collet-Sera was hired to direct the movie in the summer of 2019 while he was in the middle of working with Johnson on Disney's Jungle Cruise. Warner Bros. then made the movie official by giving Black Adam a 2021 release date, which was then pushed to 2022 due to COVID-19. Early details on Black Adam pointed to the movie exploring the character's origin thousands of years ago and bring him to the present day of the DCEU. The latter allows the film to introduce the Justice Society of America: Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell).
With a July 2022 release date, it won't be too long before audiences get a chance to see Black Adam and meet Johnson's DC character. Although Black Adam has been part of the DC Comics history since 1945, the movie will be the first time most people around the world are exposed to the character. With roughly 75 years of comic history under his belt, there is a lot to know about Black Adam ahead of his DCEU debut. Here's a rundown of Black Adam's comic origin, powers, and how they compare to what is known about the DCEU Black Adam movie.
Black Adam's DC Comics Origin Explained
Black Adam's most recent comic origin goes back thousands of years when he was a native of the Egyptian-like country Kahndaq. After originally being a prince of the country, the comics reintroduced Black Adam as a slave known as Teth-Adam. His path to becoming a powerful villain begins when the dictatorship ruling over Kahndaq killed almost his entire family. Teth-Adam nearly died trying to save his nephew Aman, which resulted in them both being transported to the Rock of Eternity. The wizard Shazam selected Aman to be his new champion and healed Teth-Adam. However, Teth-Adam wanted the power for himself and feared that his nephew didn't have what it takes to free Kahndaq from slavery. This led him to kill Aman after having the powers of Shazam shared with him, resulting in the birth of Black Adam.
Once Black Adam had the power of Shazam, he immediately went to war with the rulers of Kahndaq and defeated the Seven Deadly Sins in the process. Even though Black Adam is the first appearance of Johnson's DC character, much of this backstory is already confirmed to exist in the DCEU. Shazam! didn't feature a cameo by The Rock, but the wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) did explain what happened with the Council of Eternity's former champion. The movie detailed a man consumed with power who went on a deadly rampage and defeated the Seven Deadly Sins. Footage and concept art for Black Adam has offered glimpses of Teth-Adam fighting to free Kahndaq and the devastating losses that are part of his past.
The comics went on to explain that Black Adam eventually became at odds with the Council of Eternity and killed all of them except Shazam, which also seems to be part of the DCEU canon. This action is what led to Black Adam's imprisonment for thousands of years until someone found his tomb. The comics had Shazam's villain Doctor Sivana (Mark Strong) occupy this role, but Black Adam seems to have changed it, making a freedom fighter known as Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) responsible for freeing Black Adam in the 21st century.
Is Black Adam A Villain In DC Movies?
With an origin like Black Adam's, it is quite easy to understand how he became a villain to the larger DC Universe. His history with the wizard Shazam and the Council of Eternity directly led to his conflict with Billy Batson's Shazam and the Shazam Family. The comics previously depicted him in such a villainous manner that he set his sights on world domination. The World War III storyline saw Black Adam traverse the globe to expand his empire, leading to some of the biggest DC heroes trying to stop him. Despite all the villainy in his story, Black Adam has left that part of his life behind at moments in the comics and strayed more towards being an anti-hero. This is how he ended up working with the Justice Society of America in the first place. But even in times of being on the JSA, Black Adam has never gone fully into the hero category of DC characters.
It is quite clear that Black Adam and the DCEU have plans to adjust how audiences perceive Dwayne Johnson's DC character. Making him the main character in a movie is the first sign of this desire, as the story will be designed in a way where audiences are rooting for Black Adam, or at the very least understand his motivations. There are even repeated teases in the promotional campaign that show an interest in making Black Adam a superhero in the eyes of the general public. Dwayne Johnson referred to him as a superhero back in 2019, and DC's 2022 trailer was entirely built around the idea of promoting the year's heroes: Robert Pattinson's Batman, Ezra Miller's Flash, Jason Momoa's Aquaman... and Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam. It certainly appears that Black Adam is reframing The Rock's character in some fashion. At this point, it is more expected that Black Adam will be a villain in the DCEU, even if he eventually fights Shazam or Superman.
How Powerful Is Black Adam Compared To Superman?
Black Adam's DCEU debut has long been touted by Dwayne Johnson as something that will change the power hierarchy of the shared universe forever, as he's a character with powers on par with Superman. While the Man of Steel and Black Adam don't have identical abilities, their top-end power is similar. Black Adam's powers (whether they come from Shazam or Egyptian deities) give him increased stamina, speed, and strength. He also is capable of flying and possesses the ability to shoot and summon lightning. This has been demonstrated already in the brief looks at the DCEU's Black Adam, as he fires electricity from his hands and chest. The Black Adam first look teaser even showed him use these powers to fry a human to his bones. Johnson's superhero also possesses magical abilities, which The Rock claims is his greatest attribute.
There are obvious similarities between Superman and Black Adam's power sets. They can both fly and have super strength, stamina, and speed. While Superman's laser eyes might be unique, Black Adam has a similar power set with his electrokinesis. Which DC character is more powerful is really up for debate at this point still. It could be argued that Superman will usually beat Black Adam in a fight because he is the hero, but Black Adam's full unleashed powers might not have ever been displayed either.
Furthermore, in the comics, Black Adam poses a unique threat to Superman because the former's abilities are magic-based — something Superman has no added invulnerability to. In any case, the DCEU has shown Superman to be strong enough to take on some of the biggest threats by himself. As long as Black Adam doesn't nerf his abilities, Dwayne Johnson's DC character should be viewed as someone who is on an equal playing field with Superman's powers.
