It’s been two years since Dwayne Johnson kicked off what would be the beginning of the end for the DCEU. Touted as a huge event film that was meant to reshape the DCEU, Black Adam was originally set to be apart of Shazam. However, the actor wanted to introduce the character in a solo film first before he made finally had his face-off against his DC brother. Unfortunately, that never came to fruition as Black Adam flopped hard at the box office and forced the Warner Brothers Discovery to scrap any of the remaining plans for the anti-hero.
There isn’t any plans for him to return to the DCU. Of course, those plans can change as we haven’t even gotten the first film from the new universe. Still, despite Black Adam being nothing more than a mindless popcorn action flick, his character had plenty of potential to be something big within the DCEU. Would going with Shazam vs. Black Adam have prevented the demise of the entire DCEU? We’ll never know, but there’s some key mistakes that didn’t capitalize on the uniqueness of Black Adam.
Black Adam Should’ve Been Shazam’s Next Villain
It was strange to watch the entire Black Adam film and he never acknowledges Shazam. For goodness sake, he literally says Shazam to get his powers! But there was this awkward dance of the film never confirming the existence of Shazam, yet playing within the lore of the DC hero’s world. Black Adam can be an interesting character. Though most people likely know him from the Injustice video games, he’s a well balanced anti-hero in the comics. More often than not, he plays on the villain side, but there’s always a nice complexity within the villain.
Black Adam should’ve been Shazam’s next villain. The solo film ended up being nothing more than a generic film that you’ve seen a million times before. It didn’t haven’t anything new to say about the character nor did it effectively more the DC brand forward. Having Black Adam fight Shazam would’ve open a new avenue on how to develop the angry anti-hero. It would’ve challenged his morals and even deepened the mythology of both characters.
Black Adam should’ve went the Peacemaker route, star in Shazam as a secondary character, then flesh him out in a solo film. That way, audiences would’ve been better familiar with him. Plus, it would’ve skipped the generic origin story that presented.
It Could’ve Given More Depth To The Anti-Hero Angle
What makes Peacemaker such a great character is his personal journey that we follow throughout the series. He is the way he because of the screwed up family that Peacemaker grew up. That sort of depth was missing in Black Adam. Sure, the character stated that he liked killing people and made it clear that he was NO hero, but the arc didn’t do anything do deepen the term. Anti-heroes are some of the best characters in film and television: Walter White, Punisher, Tony Montana, and Deadpool are just some of the amazing names that have come along throughout the years.
Black Adam character was barely challenged. In fact, in the end, the film threw it’s hands up in the air and said that it’s okay to kill if somebody was bad enough. There was no compelling arc that got him to that conclusion. He didn’t suffer a loss that made him change his mind. Nor was his morals and values really cross examined that would’ve given him a deeper perspective. Having an anti-hero in the DCEU would’ve made for an interesting universe.
His methods are vastly different than most of the Justice League, and that could been a fun angle to explore. Even doing a team-up with Shazam would’ve better highlighted the differences between the two characters and helped showcase the value Black Adam brings to the crowded market.
Black Adam Could’ve Been A Compelling Villain For The Entire DCEU
That said, Black Adam didn’t have to be an anti-hero. There’s fun in that angle, but showcasing him as a true villain would’ve added a new name to the live-action roster. DC arguably has the best villain roster in the comics. The problem is that the brand only relies on a few of them in the live-action adaptations. While we’ve seen new names like Cheetah, Black Manta, or Darksied; Joker, Riddler, Penguin, and Lex Luthor seems to get all of the love.
Based on the film alone, Black Adam is that much of an intriguing character. But having an ultra powerful God with anger issues could’ve caused a rift between the heroes. That’s the magic of Black Adam; he can comfortably fighting alongside the heroes, but some of his jaded worldview would force him to fight against them as well. If Johnson wasn’t trying to rush Black Adam the main star of the new universe then the slow build of his character could’ve really freshen up a stale product.
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