“The world doesn’t always need a hero. Sometimes it needs darkness.” Doctor Fate in Black Adam
Oh DC, how you vex me.
The DCEU has been a hot mess since day one. While it’s more aggressive critics (including yours truly) have our favourites (Wonder Woman, Shazam!), even the most passionate fans have to admit that it has struggled. Look, if the DCEU had gotten even half of its life decisions right, it would be getting equal press with the MCU. But that has never happened. And when the DCEU is grabbing headlines, it’s rarely for the right reasons (looking at you Snyder fans and Ezra Miller). DC owns some of the most iconic characters in Western literature but Warner’s. revolving door of studio heads have made an Olympic sport out of dropping the movie ball. Sometimes, it feels, on purpose.
One thing just about everyone can agree on is that the DCEU has struggled to find an identity. Especially an identity that would distinguish it from the juggernaut that is the MCU.
And for better or worse, Black Adam gave us a glimpse of what could have been DC’s narrative lighthouse, guiding it to years of fantastic super hero stories, epic team-ups and mind bending crossovers. And all of it told with more nuanced intelligence than you would normally find in loud, special effects bonanzas. And more than you would find in most MCU projects.
Black Adam basically started his existence as “evil Shazam.” An enemy of DC’s Captain Marvel, he derived his abilities from Egyptian gods instead of Greek ones but was corrupted by the massive power he was bestowed with. He used his near omnipotence to conquer ancient Egypt before the divine authorities who granted him his powers stepped in.
But several decades, a number of retcons and about a hundred DC reboots later, and Black Adam is now more of an anti-hero. A dark reflection of the world’s most powerful and popular heroes. He’s the Punisher with Superman’s powers. He is the Yin to Superman’s moral Yang, and considering that DC made a lot about the Man of Steel’s cameo in the Black Adam movie (that isn’t a spoiler since the scene was all over the internet days before Black Adam’s release) that could have easily been the storytelling fulcrum DC rested it’s shared universe on.
Superman is basically a messiah. He uses his god-like powers to protect humanity from every kind of otherworldly evil you can shake a stick at. He also comes in pretty handy during natural disasters and other assorted crises. But he prefers to let the course of human history be decided by humanity itself. He doesn’t get involved in politics and doesn’t interfere in the affairs of sovereign nations (even if it means ending slavery or preventing genocide). All the while he hopes that his example inspires others to be best they can be, to become the leaders the world needs moving forward so humanity will no longer need super heroes to protect it. He is the example of absolute power not corrupting absolutely and his hope that everyone else will find the same path is the bedrock of his value system. Life is sacred to him and he is constantly demonstrating unimaginable restraint over unimaginable power to prevent anyone dying as a result of his actions.
Back Adam on the other hand, sees humanity as something that needs to be protected from itself. Something that needs guidance forced upon it. He believes in peace through tyranny. He doesn’t see violence as the best tool to solve problems, he sees it as the only tool to solve anything. He doesn’t shoot before asking questions because he doesn’t believe in asking questions. He doesn’t believe in redemption. Or second chances. Or mercy. He has zero problem being judge, jury and more than willing executioner. If the bad guys die, not only are their evil ways buried with them, but everyone else is on notice. He is the ultimate example of finding out what happens when you mess around.
The reason he conquered the (fictional) middle eastern country of Kandaq is because he was convinced that the strong and the greedy and the corrupt would oppress the innocent and the weak under any other form of government. And the only way Kandaqi citizens would be guaranteed order, justice and a chance for prosperity would be with a benevolent but absolute ruler in charge. So he became that ruler. While it meant Kandaq’s previous rulers met a gruesome end, he would be quick to point out its citizens have prospered ever since.
And that would have been the perfect storytelling conflict to drive the DCEU. Forget Batman and Superman (who share the same moral aversion to killing), a Superman/Black Adam cinematic stare down was the way to go. On one side you could have had the virtuous and morally certain Superman. On the other you could have had the ruthlessly violent Black Adam. Both of equal power, both equally certain in their convictions and both desperately suspicious of each other.
There would still be a lot of grey space in between for heroes like Batman and Wonder Woman to live (and have franchises of their own). A born warrior, there would be plenty of times Diana would likely side with Black Adam and his methods. And there would be just as many where she would be repulsed by him and his philosophy. While Batman would always resent him for his willingness to kill (and would never be able to overlook it), he would be pragmatic enough to know that on some extreme occasions, Adam’s approach would be the best suited. Even Jason Mamoa’s Aquaman would probably grab a beer or two with him before getting into a fist fight with him the next).
And while we all know the shortcomings and flaws of Superman’s and the Justice League’s soft glove approach, this would be a perfect opportunity to explore the eventual warts in Black Adam’s (and other anti heroes like the Punisher’s). Indiscriminate killing can only fix so many problems before it becomes an overriding problem itself. Could Adam temper his violence? Could he exercise restraint? Or would he prove inflexible? Would he barrel down the same path until the world’s other heroes had no choice but to step in and stop him?
SPOILER ALERT! When the Justice Society of America arrive in Kandaq to capture the recently awakened Black Adam, they are confused when Kandaq’s citizens cheer Adam while they boo the heroes, calling them unwelcome invaders. The female protagonist chastises the JSA, telling them no hero or champion of human rights ever set foot in Kandaq while its citizens (including her husband) were being murdered by tyrants and criminals. And while the JSA may have disapproved of Adam’s methods, he had done more to liberate Kandaq in hours than the rest of the world’s heroes had done in over a quarter of a century.
Simply put, Superman is the hero we would like to think we deserve (and sometimes do). But Black Adam is the weapon of mass destruction we sometimes need.
The morality of heroics and warfare is a complex, nuanced discussion (one Star Wars is currently having in Andor. When does freedom fighting become terrorism? Do you always have to fight fire with fire? When fighting an absolute tyrant, what Iines do you never cross? What happens if you do?). The DCEU could explore this conversation through its movies and shows, keeping this philosophical divide at the storytelling forefront.
What would happen if Superman needed Black Adams’s help defeating Darkseid? What would happen if Black Adam needed Superman’s help defending Kandaq from Brainiac? How would Lex Luthor eventually exploit this divide? Imagine what would happen if Batman recruited Black Adam for a specific mission, knowing his no holds barred approach would work where Superman’s restraint would likely fail? Could Superman ever forgive the Dark Knight for that?
The storytelling options would have been endless and could have eventually culminated in the DCEU’s own Civil War.
This is how the DCEU should have set itself up. If you could get in a time machine and traveled back to when they were laying the DCEU’s ground work (kind off), this is the blueprint Warner Bros. should have been convinced to use. It would have allowed DC to tell all kinds of stories that Marvel wouldn’t (or even couldn’t), allowing the two movie franchises to co-exist alongside each other with their own respective identities. And with a successful DCEU competing with the MCU, just imagine the quality of Marvel movies we’d be getting right now as well.
Imagine an X-Men universe where Professor X and Magneto spend entire movies circling each other, each movie a chapter in the exploration of their respective philosophies, their weaknesses and their strengths. Imagine all the world’s other mutants being forced to pick sides, the fate of the entire human race hanging in the balance of every decision made by every player. Imagine years of movies setting up one epic confrontation that would shape the future of the world. Possibly even the universe
Alas, nine years and numerous bombs and controversies in, the DCEU has chartered its current course for better or worse. And while Dwayne Johnson has all but promised there will be a Superman/Black Adam dust up sometime in the future, could it possibly be as epic as an entire shared universe arranged around their conflict? A super hero cold war so to speak. Even if new DC Studio heads James Gunn and Kevin Saffron wanted to steer the newly minted DCU in this direction, DC’s film universe has become a minefield of rotted continuity and regrettable storytelling decisions. And despite the hyperbole, Black Adam was not the game changer in the DC movie universe that it claimed to be.
In the right storytelling hands it could be have been a mind-blowing franchise. And it could have allowed DC to fully compete with, even surpass, the MCU instead of getting its ass kicked by it.
DC, what could have been.
Image via www.gq.com
