God, supervillain, person of colour: All you need to know about Black Adam

While Marvel is shelling out more and more content with every passing month, DC Extended Universe struggles with postponed release dates and cancelled projects. Finally, the DCEU has its fans geared up for Black Adam that has released in some Indian theatres today (October 20) and would drop everywhere from tomorrow onwards. 

A spin-off of the 2019 superhero comedy Shazam, Black Adam stars Dwayne Johnson as the titular character, an antiheroic mythical figure who is freed from his tomb after 5,000 years of captivity. Bestowed with the power of the gods of ancient Egypt, the being known as Teth-Adam takes up the mantle of Black Adam and wreaks havoc as the superhero organisation Justice Society of America (JSA) attempts to take him down.

While this basic premise of the $200 million film is evident from its teasers-trailers, a little comic book background on the character and a dose of history behind the film’s turbulent making would only enrich the experience further. 

Black Adam was initially a non-DC character: Back in the day (specifically early 20th century), several comic book houses competed with the popularity of DC (and later Marvel). To avoid financial losses, some of these publications ended up selling the licenses of their characters to titans like DC Comics.

Similarly, Black Adam was originally a property of the now-defunct Fawcett Comics with the villain making his comic book debut with the first issue of The Marvel Family which was published in December 1945. DC could acquire the character only in the 1970s, a part of deal that allowed DC to own several Fawcett characters including its most popular character Captain Marvel (AKA Shazam after the magic word that grants him his powers). 

Right from Black Adam’s debut, the character was often pitted as the primary adversary of Captain Marvel. According to the Fawcett stories, Black Adam was initially an Egyptian man named Teth-Adam. Impressed by Teth’s moral purity, the wizard Shazam (a typical Gandalf/Dumbledore-looking white-bearded figure) gave him superpowers and rechristened him as “Mighty Adam”. 

However, Mighty Adam’s powers would soon corrupt and draw him towards greed and malice, forcing Shazam to call him Black Adam and banish him to a distant world. As shown in the movie, Black Adam returns to planet Earth after 5,000 years and fights Shazam’s now-chosen successor Captain Marvel. 

DC welcomes Black Adam: The 1940s were largely referred to as the Golden Age of Comic Books in the States followed by the Silver Age (1956-1970) and the Bronze Age (1970s). It was in the Bronze Age when Black Adam was retconned in the DC Comics series Shazam in its 28th issue (published in March 1977).

From then onwards, more context was offered behind the Egyptian gods whose powers Black Adam possesses (as opposed to mostly Graeco-Roman gods associated with Captain Marvel) and some post-90s comics even started projecting him in a more positive light. Ultimately, Black Adam doesn’t believe in wanton destruction and his ideals might be militant in nature but his ultimate goal is justice.

This redemption arc has also found him admission in the Justice Society of America alongside heroes such as Atom Smasher and Hawkman. Given that the Society and its members will be featured in the film too, it is highly likely that Black Adam would end with Dwayne Johnson’s character turning to the good side. 

Who are the Egyptian gods that help Black Adam? According to 1977’s Shazam #28, Black Adam gets his powers from the following gods:

Shu (stamina and speed): Depicted as a human with feathers on his head, Shu is the Egyptian deity of peace, lions, and the wind. 

Hershef (strength): A ram-headed god, Hershef is typically associated with creation and fertility in ancient Egypt. 

Amon (power): A “big boss” in the pantheon of Egyptian gods, Amon (also referred to as Amun) not only created himself but also the entire universe. In the 16th century BC, he was fused with the sun god Ra and is known as Amun-Ra since then. 

Zehuti (wisdom): Popularly known as Thoth, Zehuti has the head of the bird ibis and handles various portfolios, namely the moon, wisdom, writing, science, magic, art, and judgment.

Anpu (speed): The wolf-headed Anpu (or as his popular name goes Anubis) is the god of the underworld, handling departments such as death, tombs, and the afterlife. 

Menthu (courage): The god of war and vitality, Menthu is often depicted as a falcon-headed god. 

When arranged in this order, the first letters of all these six gods spell out the word “Shazam”. In Captain Marvel’s case however, Shazam stands for more European figures such as Solomon (wisdom), Hercules (strength), Atlas (stamina), Zeus (power), Achilles (courage) and Mercury (speed).

Is Black Adam from Egypt or somewhere else? His powers clearly have Egyptian origins as is evident from the gods mentioned above. The 90s series The Power of Shazam even adds that he was the son of real-life Pharaoh Ramses II.

However, the same decade also witnessed his appearances in JSA one of whose issues assigned his origins to Kahndaq, a fictional North-African nation neighbouring Egypt. Just like Black Panther’s patriotism towards Wakanda or Aquaman’s commitment to protect Atlantis, Black Adam became the chosen son of Kahndaq. At times, he was even depicted as a slave in Kahndaq and in Egypt, serving the Egyptian prince Khufu. 

Ultimately, it was the Kahndaq angle that made readers sympathise for him. In the ancient times, the superpowered villains Ahk-Ton and Vandal Savage conquered the African kingdom and even murdered Adam’s wife and children, compelling him to go down a violent path of revenge that ens with Ahk-Ton’s death.

The high-headed Shazam might have condemned the violence but Black Adam had no other option to protect his kingdom. And if this makes him a villain, he is ready to be one. In the comics that followed, Black Adam continues reigning as the king of Kahndaq even in the modern day, protecting it from all external threats ranging from villains to his own JSA comrades. 

Why did Dwayne Johnson connect with the role so much? For a physically strong titan like Johnson (who as well know started out as the wrestler Rock on WWE), Black Adam seems to be the perfect character to play. However, as the multi-million dollar star explained in a recent Instagram post, the character’s strength is just one of the many things that impressed him. 

Sharing a 15-year-old article from 2007, Johnson stressed on how he was announced to play Black Adam back then and it has been a long road since then for the project to see the light of the day.

Citing the Kahndaq origins of the hero, he added, “A slave, yet blessed with the powers of Superman - Teth Adam is full of rage because his family was ripped away from him. Gone forever. You may not agree with Black Adam’s form of justice, but he’s a protector of his people and will always do what’s right.”

With Johnson being of half-black and half-Samoan origins, it deeply matters to him to play a comic book character of colour. Yes, sure he has made stereotypical Chinese jokes in his WWE days but now in his Instagram post, he affirms, “Kids of ALL colors around the world will now be able to see themselves in Black Adam. 15 long years. Worth the fight.”

Black Adam is out now in theatres.