Warning: This Article Contains Spoilers Regarding Black Adam.Black Adam has finally hit theaters, and the movie tackles a lot. The 11th entry in the DCEU introduces not only the title character of Black Adam but also introduces the Justice Society, including four new heroes to the franchise, a fictional country named Kahndaq, magical elements, and attempts to tie the film into various corners of the franchise. What might have started off as a simple spin-off to the film Shazam! has now positioned itself, thanks to the star power of Dwayne Johnson, as a kickoff point for a new era of the DCEU, phase one.
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Black Adam has to accomplish a lot, and it spends a good portion of its runtime simply explaining stuff to the audience, inundating viewers with expositional details. Yet the film suffers from the issue of over-explaining some concepts while also not explaining some important information at all. Audiences leaving the theater will likely be asking many things that the movie did not answer. Here is a rundown of five big questions left from Black Adam and an attempt to try and explain them based on what is presented in the film and what is present in the comics.
What is Hawkman’s Background?
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Of all the superheroes out there, Hawkman might have the most complicated and convoluted backstories of any character. Many writers have spent years trying to sort out his comic book history. Originally created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, Hawkman premiered in 1940 as Carter Hall, an archeologist who is also the reincarnated spirit of an Egyptian Prince. The second version of the character was introduced in 1961 and was a total reworking of the character and concept. This time, the character was an intergalactic alien cop from the planet Thanagar named Katar Hol. Since then many more versions of the character have been introduced, at times trying to mix the two origins together.
Either of these versions of the character’s backstory would work in the DCEU, as the reincarnated prince angle could have tied back into Black Adam, or the intergalactic cop would root him in the sci-fi alien elements of past DC films like Man of Steel, Justice League and The Suicide Squad. However, Black Adam never actually reveals anything about Hawkman’s history, and all audiences know about him is his name (Carter Hall), that he works for the Justice Society, and that he appears to be rich considering he owns a mansion. Passing references are made to Cyclone, Atom Smasher, and Doctor Fate about how their powers work and where they come from yet nothing is ever mentioned about Hawkman, which seems like one of the film’s biggest missed opportunities.
What is the Relationship Between the Justice League and the Justice Society?
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Black Adam sees the introduction of the Justice Society, a new superhero team in the DCEU that seems very similar to the Justice League, yet no relation between these two organizations is ever hinted at. In the comics, the Justice Society preceded the Justice League as DC’s first superhero team. However, the team fell out of favor soon and DC relaunched the concept as the Justice League with great success. Now in the comics, the Justice Society is either a superhero team that exists in an alternate reality that crosses over with the Justice League or a superhero team that proceeds the Justice League.
Black Adam seems to imply that the Justice Society is a superhero team which has been operating for decades, as Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan) and Hawkman have a long history, and the original Atom Smasher (played by Henry Winker) has a cameo. These heroes have never been referenced or seen in previous DCEU entries, which saw the arrival of Superman and other metahumans as a game-changing event.
The Justice Society in Black Adam also draws heavily from the X-Men and The Fantastic Four, more so than their original Justice Society counterparts. Being a superhero team that deals with global problems operating out of a mansion makes them pretty similar to the Justice League, and the movie never really makes clear the distinction between the two super teams.
What Exactly is Intergang?
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Intergang was introduced in DC Comics in October 1970 and was created by Jack Kirby. The organization in the comics is a criminal enterprise that is armed with technology supplied by the villainous New Gods of the planet Apokolips, namely operating under the villainous Darkseid. Since Darkseid was the villain introduced in Zack Snyder’s Justice League and was the original long-term plan for the franchise one might assume that Intergang was laying the groundwork to rework some disregarded elements from the original DCEU plan Zack Snyder made.
Yet despite Intergang having advanced technology including hover vehicles and advanced weapons, there is no reference to Darkseid or any of this technology being otherworldly. There isn’t even a reference to them being a criminal organization, and the film frames them more as a foreign power invading the nation of Kahndaq. The film makes it unclear exactly what Intergang is and its place in the universe. Their advanced technology is explained by being harnessed by a power known as Eternium, magical rocks found in Kahndaq.
What On Earth are Nth Metal and Eternium?
Audiences of superhero movies have come to expect strange, exotic, and powerful minerals and metals. Most audiences now have a grasp of Adamantium from the X-Men movies and Vibranium from various MCU films. Yet both those metals were explained, as Adamantium is explained in X-Men and further expanded upon in X2: X-Men United. Vibranium was teased in Captain America: The First Avenger and Avengers: Age of Ultron before a full breakdown was given in Black Panther, yet those two previous entries informed audiences it was a rare lightweight indestructible metal.
Black Adam introduces two new ones with little to no explanation. The first one that is explained briefly is Eternium, a highly sought-after magical element found in Kahndaq. It appears to imbue objects with magical properties and gives Intergang its advanced technology. It also appears to be able to harm Black Adam (and presumably Shazam). In the comics, it is the remnants of the pieces from the previously whole Rock of Eternity, an ancient site of great magical power. However, the Rock of Eternity is still whole in the DCEU as it was shown in Shazam!, so the DCEU version has made the mineral a separate material.
The other material hinted at briefly is Nth metal. Hawkman references it when Cyclone asks what his ship and his suit are made of. In the comics, Nth metal is an alien metal from the planet Thanagar (homeworld of the various Hawk heroes in the Silver Age). The metal has the ability to negate gravity, allowing a person wearing an object made of Nth Metal to fly. In addition, Nth metal also protects the wearer from the elements and speeds the healing of wounds, increases their strength, and also has magical properties. It has a wide variety of uses in DC Comics, yet other than the brief mention in Black Adam this rare and powerful metal is never mentioned again or explained in any detail.
Why Are the Heroes Working With Amanda Waller?
Warner Bros.
Viola Davis reprises her role as Amanda Waller in Black Adam. Waller was featured heavily in 2016’s Suicide Squad and 2021’s The Suicide Squad and even had a role in 2022’s HBO Max series Peacemaker. Peacemaker ended with Waller’s daughter Leota Adebayo revealing her mother’s involvement with Task Force X to the world. This would likely damage her reputation but also any sort of connections she has with the various superheroes in the DCEU.
However, not only are Hawkman and the Justice Society in direct contact with Amanda Waller, they even bring Black Adam to a special facility designed to hold Task Force X prisoners. Waller actually calls in Superman as a favor, yet it is hard to imagine a character as morally right as Superman taking orders from a shady government operative like Amanda Waller. One could assume she has information on Superman, similar to how she did on The Flash and Aquaman that she gave over to Bruce Wayne in the end credits of Suicide Squad, but nothing within the film itself indicates that. Hopefully, some of these are answered in the reported Amanda Waller series from The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker director James Gunn.
