The DCEU version of Black Adam was not my first exposure to the character, since I remember watching an animated movie where he fights both Shazam and Superman. He originally started as a Fawcett Comics character and served primarily as an antagonist to Shazam, but for the DC Extended Universe they chose to reinvent him as more of a sympathetic antihero instead of a straight up villain. Warner Bros. also clearly put a lot of faith in Dwayne Johnson taking the role, since he has historically been a major box office draw.

His real name is Teth-Adam, and while I only vaguely remember parts of the movie’s backstory, he was originally from the ancient Middle Eastern-inspired nation where the film takes place. He gained powers tied to the same magical source that gave Billy Batson his Shazam abilities.

Black Adam is eventually unleashed into the modern world, and things quickly spiral into chaos for nearly everyone involved. He shares many of the same powers as Shazam and could definitely hold his own against the Man of Steel himself. Honestly, I am a little surprised they never tried harder to connect him to Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

Since he is not portrayed as a traditional superhero in the DCEU, much of the movie involves him fighting actual heroes like the Justice Society. After plenty of conflict and destruction, though, they eventually team up to stop the true villain of the movie, Sabbac.

In the end, Black Adam brutally rips Sabbac in half and saves the world. But because the DCEU essentially collapsed shortly afterward, Dwayne Johnson never got the long term franchise future that was probably expected when the movie was made. I think he did a solid enough job in the role, but I would still be pretty shocked if James Gunn brought him back as the same version of the character in the new DCU.