Warning this article contains spoilers for Black Adam.

Ok before we start let’s get one thing straight, I feel Black Adam was a completely serviceable movie. Is it the best comic book movie I’ve ever seen? No, nor is it the worst. It’s just ok. Which brings to what I’m here to talk about, these are the points where the movie went wrong, in my opinion, and if Warner Brothers/DC can avoid some of these in the future they’d make great movies. I really feel they’ve learned nothing from Marvel.

One this should have been Shazam 2. I know they were talking about this Black Adam film before the thought of Shazam was even introduced. I’m also pretty sure The Rock didn’t want to share the spotlight with Zachary Levi, but the origin of both characters are intertwined and it would have made things clearer to the non comic book fan. Let’s face it the average movie goer doesn’t know who Black Adam is and when he says Shazam in the movie your casual movie fan is confused. I know this because I was at the movie with a non comic fan. But this is a criticism I’ve had of a lot of the DCEU movies. They aren’t made to bring new fans in they are made for the established comic book fan.

But picture this, after Black Adam first appears in modern times the Wizard that gave Billy Baston his powers appears and says Shazam we need you and your family to correct a mistske we made a long time ago.  And boom were off. No need for the Justice society or Amanda Waller. It’s easier to follow and you can still make the se film Shazam and Black Adsm fight until Sabbac shows up they team up defeat him and there ya go. Which brings me to my next point.

You wasted the Justice Society. By bringing in a group of heroes to “take down” Black Adam they have no tome for back stories on any of the characters and unless you’re a fan of the comics already you have no idea who these characters are or why they are here. They try to short cut it with Amanda Waller, which I’ll get to in a second, but it doesn’t fully work. Fortunately you have Aldis Hodge playing Hawkman and Pierce Brosnan playing Doctor Fate 2 great actors that pull thses roles off masterfully. So much so that they truly carry this film to the point that at times it feels like a Justice Society movie. I enjoyed them so much I’d love to see a prequel staring them.

But with that then sadly Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher and Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone get lost in the shuffle. They feel tacked on and for the most part as used as nothing more than plot points and comic relief. It’s a shame to because they are both fine actors, but they are never given a chance to stand out in this film. Hopefully they’ll be used again in another project and be given more to do then be Amanda Waller’s lackeys.

Which brings me to the use of Amanda Waller. She’s simply here as a short cut to explain why the JSA is being brought together to go after Black Adam, but it’s never established why the JSA is working for Amanda Waller. It doesn’t make sense for a hero like Hawkman to ever answer to Amanda Waller. It feels like they are trying to establish her as the Nick Fury of the DCEU which was never her role in the comics. This doesn’t work with a character that is as morally repugnant as her. Also she only appear in the beginning to assmble the team and in thenafter credit scene.Which then brings me to the ambiguous post credit scene.

Ok Henry Cavill is back as Superman, great! But the scene which brings him back to the DCEU is actually very ambiguous in the sense that Amamda Waller threatens Black Adam by saying she could send people after him not from Earth. Black Adam destroys the drone she’s using to communicate and at that moment Superman shows up. This has led people to believe Superman is working for Waller. I err on the side of Supes was waiting for the drone to be destroyed before talking to Black Adam because he isn’t working for her, but a lot of people are saying he is working for her. That would make no sense at all. Superman should be moral and good beacon of hope in the DCU. Waller is the complete opposite to that and Kal-el would never wprk with her, I hope they clear up this ambiguity soon.

But that about sums up.my biggest issues with the execution of this movie with in the DCEU. Again I enjoyed the movie, but feel it could have been so much better. I’m hopeful that DC will build something great now from this going forward. For more on my thoughts on Black Adam check out out full review on the podcast here: https://superherospeak.com/wp/482-black-adam/