Black Adam

A 5000-year-old meta-human is awakened in Black Adam. The country of Kahndaq is under oppression by the Intergang, and resistance fighter Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) hopes to change all that by unearthing the Crown of Sabbac. However, when Intergang ambushes Adrianna, she reads an incantation that frees Teth-Adam (Dwayne Johnson), long believed to be the champion of Kahndaq. However, in actuality, Adam is a rage-filled violent meta-human whose awakening catches the attention of the Justice Society, consisting of Carter Hall/Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Albert Rothstein/Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), Maxine Hunkel/Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), and Kent Nelson/Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan). The Justice Society arrive in Kahndaq to take Teth-Adam into custody at any cost.

Black Adam is a film adaptation of the DC comics of the same name directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Non-Stop, Jungle Cruise). Black Adam is a passion project for co-producer and star Dwayne Johnson, who describes the character as someone who changes the hierarchy of power within the DC universe. The character of Teth-Adam/Black Adam shares a similar origin to and is traditionally one of the archenemies of the superhero Shazam. However, the film Black Adam makes the character much more of an anti-hero called upon by the Justice Society to help when a much more potent threat emerges.

As a stand-alone film, I contend that Black Adam is a perfectly watchable, though unremarkable, superhero story. However, even though the character of Black Adam is a D-level character at best in the DC comics canon, Dwayne Johnson wants the character to be viewed as more important than he is. In addition to the repeated hyperbolic statements about the character changing the hierarchy of power of the DC universe, the film features a very shoehorned-in appearance by a particular A-tier hero, who in Dwayne Johnson's mind seems to take precedence over Black Adam's true archenemy Shazam, despite the latter receiving a sequel film next year.

In some ways, Dwayne Johnson's ambitions about Black Adam overshadow the film itself. I do have some positive takeaways from the film. We have the first proper cinematic introduction of the hero Hawkman as the leader of the Justice Society, which in some ways is like the B-tier Justice League. Pierce Brosnan stands out in the film, adding some gravitas to the very CGI-heavy character of Dr. Fate, who is more or less the DC parallel of Marvel's Dr. Strange.

Speaking of Marvel, it is no secret that Warner Bros and DC have spent the last few years trying to create their cinematic universe, with the results being messy at best. However, Black Adam does seem to be trying to include some connective tissue to the other DC films, with a few familiar faces appearing throughout the film, including the superhero mentioned above cameo, which I won't spoil, even though he is one of Black Adam‘s worst-kept secrets.

So, does Black Adam change the power hierarchy within the DC universe? The answer is an astounding no, except within Dwayne Johnson's head, but the film isn't exactly horrible.

Trailer for Black Adam