Black Adam Can Deliver On The DCEU’s Forgotten Justice League Villain Plan

The upcoming movie Black Adam could be the first major step for the DCEU setting up the Legion of Doom. The Legion of Doom is a supervillain team in the DC Comics universe, and a wide variety of villains from Joker to Black Manta have at some point been part of the collective. Black Adam holds a special place in the Legion of Doom as one of the most powerful members of the group, and one of the most powerful members of the DC universe in general. Even though there has been no mention of the Legion in the marketing for Black Adam, there is still a strong theory among canny fans that Black Adam could be spearheading the evil faction as the future of the DCEU.

Black Adam is a comic book supervillain that premiered in the pages of Captain Marvel, fighting the titular character that would go on to be renamed after his magic word—”Shazam!” Black Adam is a version of Shazam from ancient Egypt, with similar superpowers and even a very similar suit. In many ways Black Adam is the “evil” incarnation of Shazam. However, in the past 20 years the comic character’s writers have been expanding Black Adam with greater depth and complexity, to the point where he is now one of the most well-regarded villains in the DC universe among fans.

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As a character, Black Adam is a deep cut into the history of superhero comics and seems like a strange choice to lead a film, let alone one upon which the DCEU would hope to establish a foundation for the future. The film is a risk, featuring an obscure character and villainous protagonist, much like Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, dragging behind it a heavy backstory of comics lore. However, the star power of Dwayne Johnson does much to elevate the project, and the Black Adam DC FanDome teaser trailer shows that the character looks to be treated with reverence to its source material. If Black Adam is a success then it could change the course of the DCEU, and this is perhaps all according to WB’s plan.

Black Adam Is A Major DC Villain

Black Adam has a long history in comics, going back to 1945, and though most of that time he has been a villain he has occasionally been a kind of violent anti-hero, and sometimes even a hero. Dwayne Johnson has certainly played the bad guy before—both in Hollywood and the WWE wrestling ring—so having him in the starring role is no guarantee that Black Adam isn’t a villain. While long-term it is likely that Black Adam’s DCEU character will follow a villain-to-hero trajectory as he did in the comics, that may not happen all within the character’s first solo endeavor. That’s doubly true if Warner Bros. is looking to secure someone of The Rock’s talent for multiple films, and especially if there is a rivalry with Shazam to cultivate. The DC FanDome Black Adam teaser trailer showed the character’s magical introduction and featured him electrocuting a soldier to dust, suggesting Black Adam will indeed play a villain in his own film.

Black Adam is the Superman of Villains

After the success of Shazam! it was perhaps a strange choice to go forward with a Black Adam film over a direct sequel considering that the characters are so similar. However, this move makes more sense when Black Adam is viewed not by its connection to its superhero counterpart, but to the Man of Steel—a solo film establishing a first step to start a larger team. The similarities between Black Adam and Superman are more than just thematic, as the two share a wide range of powers including superhuman endurance, speed, strength, and the ability to fly. Warner Bros. may be riding on Dwayne Johnson’s star power, using him as an anchor to strengthen DC’s cinematic universe by ushering in Black Adam as the supervillain version of the last son of Krypton.

Several Legion of Doom Members Are Already In The DCEU

It makes more sense for Black Adam to spearhead the Legion of Doom than any other team of villains, including the Injustice League, because so many of the most important members of the Legion of Doom already exist in the DCEU. Characters like the Joker and Black Manta feature prominently in various DCEU films. Although Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke only appeared in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, participation with the Legion of the Doom would tie in well with the character. The formation of a Legion of Doom even offers an additional opportunity for Jesse Eisenberg’s much maligned turn as Lex Luthor to be redeemed.

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Legion of Doom Is The DCEU’s Long-Term Plan (With Villains)

The “Marvel Method” of assembling a grand cinematic universe was to make individual films about their heroes before bringing them together for an epic ensemble performance. The DCEU went about things differently, rushing their way towards Batman V Superman and the eventual Justice League follow-up, and the franchise has been heavily criticized for it in the wake of Marvel’s success. Now with Black Adam the DCEU could be learning from its MCU rival, albeit it by building on its team of villains rather than heroes. Warner Bros. could be leading their films to the point of the Legion of Doom assembling, with Black Adam as its catalyst, becoming a threat that will require all the heroes of the DC universe peppered throughout the various villain and anti-hero film to unite and force them back.

How much of this deployment strategy is planned and has been sneaking under the noses of fans the whole time, and how much of this is a mid-course correction after the DCEU’s unfavorable comparisons to Marvel’s success, is unknown. Superhero films are beyond the point of single-film planning, and Warner Bros. wouldn’t be throwing their support behind a relatively obscure villain like Black Adam—even if backed by a big star like Dwayne Johnson—without a larger plan in mind. With the huge slate of DCEU films on the horizon, only WB knows what the future holds for the franchise, but if this theory proves true Black Adam may determine the course of the DCEU.

Next: Every Possible Spinoff Of Upcoming DC Movies

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