The newest Black Adam trailer reveals the Justice Society to be Amanda Waller’s best hope against Black Adam, which raises the question of where the Justice League is during the events of the DCEU movie. While Black Adam has been promoted as a new beginning for the DC films, the Dwayne Johnson movie is part of the DCEU and it will see the return of Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. Viola Davis played Amanda Waller in Suicide Squad, The Suicide Squad, and Peacemaker – the last of which saw Waller contacting the Justice League in a moment of need and not the Justice Society.
More than 15 years after being cast as Black Adam, The Rock has finally made the Black Adam project a reality in the form of a DCEU movie. Dwayne Johnson confirmed that the original plan was to introduce Shazam and Black Adam in the same film, but that he voted for both Shazam and Black Adam to have their own solo movies first. Still, Black Adam will not center around Black Adam only, as it will also introduce the first live-action movie version of the Justice Society of America – the JSA.
Considering that Black Adam has been mostly a villain in the comics, it was difficult to picture how the Black Adam movie would manage to create a character that audiences could root for. Not only that, but Black Adam also had a challenge in terms of stakes – as Black Adam usually fights heroes like Shazam and even the Justice League in the comics. The solution was to have Black Adam fight the Justice Society in the Black Adam movie. However, unlike other Black Adam and Justice Society stories, the Black Adam film will be set in the present day. That seemly creates a DCEU canon problem, both because the JSA had so far never been mentioned and because the Justice League already exists and could be called to take care of Black Adam. The primary reason for the Justice League not to be in Black Adam is that the status of the Justice League cast in the DCEU is still being sorted out, although there will likely be an in-universe reason to explain why the Justice League does not take care of Black Adam.
Why Waller Calls The Justice Society (& Not The Justice League)
Peacemaker establishes that Amanda Waller has some sort of direct line of contact with the Justice League, as she asked for the Justice League’s help in the show’s finale. Therefore, there has to be a reason why Waller doesn’t call the Justice League this time. One possibility is that the Justice League is off the planet, although the Justice League had so far never left the Earth in the DCEU. The other possibility is that Amanda Waller wants to handle Black Adam secretly. Both Suicide Squad and Peacemaker establish that Batman and Amanda Waller are far from being friends, and it is likely that the Justice League would not accept taking part in a secret ARGUS mission. If the Justice Society is a more secret group than the Justice League in the DCEU, then it would make sense why the JSA would answer Waller’s call but not the Justice League.
Black Adam Continues The DCEU’s Justice League Problem
While in-universe reasons for the Justice League not being in Black Adam can be found, that canon inconsistency is a symptom of a much larger DCEU problem. It has been almost five years since Justice League (2017), yet there hasn’t been any announcement regarding a sequel or any new Justice League film. The status of most of the Justice League cast is also up in the air – Henry Cavill hasn’t played Superman since 2017; Ray Fisher publicly stated he would not return to the franchise under the current management; Ezra Miller has been involved in a series of behind the scenes controversies, and Ben Affleck has gone on record saying he was done playing Batman – although Affleck will return in The Flash and Aquaman and the Last Kingdom.
Therefore, with such uncertainty regarding the Justice League and the DCEU’s future as a whole, it makes sense that the Justice League does not have a role in Black Adam. That said, Dwayne Johnson has been teasing some sort of Superman and Black Adam crossover for a while – although there hasn’t been an official announcement regarding Henry Cavill in Black Adam. It remains to be seen how exactly will the Justice Society of America fit into the DCEU canon, and what will be the in-universe reason for Amanda Waller not to call the Justice League.
