Whether you're a diehard follower of Captain Marvel's adventures, a fan of 2019's Shazam,
or just someone who loves the Rock, there's a lot to be excited about with the upcoming
Black Adam movie. Here's a refresher on the world inhabited by DC's next big superpowered
antihero.
So, here's a question: who exactly is Black Adam?
Well, for one thing, he's the arch-nemesis of Captain Marvel. He lives in the same universe
as Billy Batson, the 12-year-old who has the ability to morph into the superpowered grown-up.
And, unsurprisingly, he's much, much older than his young enemy. Black Adam was originally
conceived as a bad guy out of time, a seemingly ageless supervillain from ancient Egypt who
fought his way through the ages to confront and destroy his heroic counterpart.
The original Adam was a former holder of Captain Marvel's mantle, gifted by the wizard Shazam
and imbued with the same powers, in the hopes that he would use them for good. Then known
as Mighty Adam, this new hero quickly lost control of his ambitions, overthrew the Pharaoh,
and set his sights on world domination. The wizard Shazam knew he couldn't revoke the
powers he'd given Adam, so he renamed him Black Adam and banished him to the farthest
point from Earth in the entire universe.
It took the undying Egyptian 5,000 years to return to Earth, by which time Shazam had
created a new family of champions, you know, Captain Marvel Jr, Mary Marvel, Uncle Marvel…you
know the whole Marvel Family. Black Adam was intent on destroying them and many of the
early Captain Marvel stories focused on this endless battle.
In more recent iterations, Black Adam has gone from an out-and-out villain to more of
a misunderstood antihero. He makes a dogged effort to change his ways, and is eventually
accepted into the crime-fighting team known as the Justice Society of America.
It seemed clear from the beginning that the Black Adam movie would focus more on the character's
righteous struggles than his original evil storyline. For one thing, the Rock says he's
been waiting for the right time to play Black Adam something that wouldn't be necessary
for a one-dimensional bad guy. In a 2020 interview, he said:
"Black Adam has been with me for over ten years now...And it feels like now, the man
that I've become, I'm able to bring a little bit of my own life lessons and philosophies
and engrain them in the DNA of this character."
If that wasn't enough to confirm that Black Adam's tale would be drawn in shades of grey,
Johnson recently shared concept art and news that suggest the movie will lean towards a
more complex version of Adam's story. At DC FanDome, the Rock gave diehards their first
glimpse at the direction his movie would take.
"All of you around the world right now watching, I can promise you this. I give you my word.
We are gonna go beyond your wildest expectations."
It seems his Black Adam will be a long-imprisoned antihero who went too far in quashing the
ruling order of his ancient society.
The Rock also revealed some of the other characters that will join Black Adam for his standalone
big-screen debut. And with the Justice Society of America along for the ride, it really does
seem like it'll be a reformed Adam hitting screens in 2021.
If you're unfamiliar with the Justice Society of America or you're wondering why it sounds
so similar to the Justice League well, there's a good reason for both. The JSA was kind of
like an early iteration of the Justice League. It predated DC's iconic team by about 20 years,
and was a great example of Golden Age comics, that brought together beloved and long-lasting
characters like Green Lantern and Flash with assists from others, such as Doctor Fate and
Sandman.
The Justice Society fell on hard times at the tail end of the 1940s, thanks to declining
interest from readers. The concept was revitalized under a new team in 1960, however, which was
known as you guessed it the Justice League. In-universe, they explained that the Justice
Society existed on one version of Earth, and the Justice League on another.
When DC later decided that their many timelines and alternate universes had become too complicated
and brought them all together, the Justice Society became the pre-World War 2 incarnation.
In the DC movie universe, Black Adam's Justice Society will feature four main characters,
besides Adam himself.
Hawkman is a perfect example of what made a superhero in the early days of spandex-clad
adventures: He's a man who dresses as a hawk and flies around using his gravity-defying
belt.
Of course, even the simplest heroes eventually need a little bit more than that. The original
run of Hawkman revealed that the character was originally the ancient Egyptian prince
Khufu, who had an ultimately fatal feud with a mysterious priest named Hath-Set. The priest
killed Khufu as well as his consort Chay-Ara, and all three of them were reincarnated in
the 1940s with Khufu taking on the much less conspicuous persona of Carter Hall, an intrepid
archaeologist.
This storyline was rebooted later down the line, tying Hawkman's past with Black Adam's.
Rather than uncovering his gravity-defying material after reincarnating, the new Hawkman
was said to have found it in Egypt, while still living as Khufu. A spacecraft powered
by the material crashed near Khufu and was carried back to the palace by Black Adam.
While he was still killed by the rival priest, the deed was done with a knife made out of
this gravity-defying metal which had the side-effect of tying his soul to Earth.
The Golden Age of comics kicked off less than 20 years after the tomb of Tutankhamun was
discovered, so the world was still pretty into Ancient Egypt at that point. As a result,
Doctor Fate is yet another DC character with ties to the Nile River Kingdoms.
Doctor Fate began his life as Kent Nelson, the son of an archaeologist named Sven Nelson.
On an expedition into a newly discovered tomb Sven and Kent discovered the mummy of Nabu
the Wise, who promptly came back to life as mummies tend to do.
Before the two archaeologists could flee, a poisonous gas was unleashed that killed
Kent's father. Rather than leave him a defenseless orphan, however, Nabu decided to train Kent
in the mystical arts, teaching him the ways of the sorcerer for two decades before returning
to the United States as Doctor Fate. He set up shop in an abandoned tower in Salem, Massachusetts
and started solving crimes using his otherworldly powers.
Cyclone is part of the new wave of Justice Society recruits, both in their universe and
our own. The character of Maxine Hunkel debuted in Mark Waid's 1996 epic Kingdom Come. Though
he originally intended her to be a new incarnation of the old-school character Red Tornado, she
was later changed to be a separate character in her own right.
Cyclone grew up in the orbit of the Justice Society. Her grandmother was Red Tornado,
an honorary member of the society who took care of their lair while the team was away.
Unlike the other early JSA members, she developed her power over time, after suddenly discovering
she had the power to control the wind as a teenager. Because of her incredible abilities
and her close proximity to the JSA, when the organization decided to grow their ranks,
Cyclone was one of the first people they called up for action.
Shown to be a bit of a fangirl of the JSA before she joined them, Cyclone took a while
to adjust to being among the ranks of her heroes although she's canonically an incredibly
gifted student and fast learner.
Atom Smasher is another of the new generation of JSA members. Born Albert Rothstein, the
Atom Smasher is the godson of founding JSA member Atom. He has the ability to control
his molecular structure, changing his size, shape and density at will which are all abilities
he inherited from his grandfather, the villainous Cyclotron.
He was a member of the crime-fighting team Infinity Inc. as well as the Justice League,
before finally being invited to join the team he had idolized from childhood. But Atom Smasher
struggled to live up to the versions of heroes he'd built up in his head, and became disillusioned
by the realities of working on the team. Eventually, however, he found the strength to carry on
in the JSA, when he realized that the younger recruits looked up to him in the same way
he did to his Golden Age heroes.
Given Atom Smasher's involvement, it's possible to get some idea of where the Black Adam movie
is heading. Atom Smasher is a critical piece of Black Adam's reformation story in the comic
books, becoming one of the former villain's closest friends while they both serve on the
JSA.
In the comics, the pair split from the JSA after becoming frustrated by the limits of
the superheroes' moral codes. They stage a coup with the help of other ethically ambiguous
superhumans in Black Adam's homeland, and the former villain quickly sets about running
his country. Atom Smasher eventually chafes under Black Adam's rule, but dies before he
can return home. After being revived via magic, he stands trial for war crimes, and, following
a stint in prison, eventually helps the Justice Society take on Black Adam himself.
Now, that's a lot of story to fit into one movie, so it's possible we'll only get to
see the first inklings of the schism in the JSA. But there's bound to be more to come,
and you can bet that the Black Adam movie won't be the last we see of this infamous
anti-hero.
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