By Aazam
October 24, 2022
Since Warner Bros. came up with the brilliant idea of casting Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a menacing Superman analogue infamous for fighting children, Black Adam has been in development
In Black Adam, Warner Bros. clearly hopes that a darker, more savage antiheroic figure would save its cape film world from a death spiral
Black Adam, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, follows Teth-Adam, an ancient, magically powerful demigod who first walked the Earth thousands of years ago in the mythical Middle Eastern nation of Kahndaq
Teth-Adam was one of the numerous slaves Kahndaqi compelled by their despotic monarch to mine their land for Eternium, a brilliant rare metal whose qualities are never explained
No one ever ventured to rebel against their rulers, as brutal as life under their king was, for fear of death
After professor Adrianna Tomaz wakes Black Adam from a centuries-long hibernation by shouting "shazam," it's easy to guess his great secret
Black Adam smashes you over the head with the idea that Kahndaq has been continuously besieged, occupied, and in desperate need of a HeroTM, just like Teth-Adam batters his adversaries with his fists
Hollywood can only adapt so many DC superheroes and their powers to the big screen
Black Adam feels like such a strange failure because Johnson is so appealing, especially when playing villains
Black Adam remembers how much fun superhero stories can be as the JSA fights Teth-Adam in Kahndaq