DC's Black Adam: Where It All Went Wrong

Despite the hardcore push to reshape the DCEU, 2022’s Black Adam didn’t quite live up to that hype. It’s not the first time a DC property has rolled out a big-name celebrity only to be a letdown, George Clooney comes to mind. So when it comes to Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam project, we had high hopes but ultimately the movie was somewhere in the middle of current DC movies. The real question is, could it have been saved had it gone a different route?

When we look back at the DCEU, the Shazam and Black Adam movies started off as being developed as one film that split. We were led to believe that the story for both characters was too big to put together in one film and that’s why Black Adam got his own solo project. At the time, it made sense. Telling two origin stories in the same movie might have dragged it down. Looking back on all the setbacks with this movie, it seems like more effort was put into making a big action film to make bank at the box office than it was to be in a passion project as part of the DCEU.

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This isn’t an internet troll takedown of Dwayne Johnson. I’ve seen a large portion of his movies and I take them for what it’s worth. Personally, if it weren’t for his past flops, maybe he would’ve fit better with the Shazam tone. When you have movies like The Game Plan or The Tooth Fairy, it’s very easy to shy away from these goofy family-friendly movies. However, that’s where the problem is. Becoming this big action guy with a very likable personality had him taking roles he can absolutely perfect and become a box office draw. We’ve all heard his story when he was down to the last $7 in his pocket, so the desire to stay hungry and successful is understandable.

Yet sometimes I wish we got more of the old Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. No, not going back to the days of those kids movies. In his element, one of the funniest movies The Rock made, was an underrated movie called Be Cool. He was a side character at best, but when you’re in a movie with heavyweights like John Travolta and comedic actors like Vince Vaughn and you’re one of the more memorable parts of the movie, you’re doing okay.

That’s where the Rock, the big tough action star, needs to be put away, and Dwayne Johnson, the kind, humble, and likable actor needed to come out. Black Adam didn’t need to be the PG-friendly humor that Shazam did but it didn’t need to flop the way that it did. Somewhere along the way, it went from being a villain origin story that was set in the Shazam universe to being a superhero version of The Rock’s Rampage. Comic book readers have expectations and if you don’t come close to meeting them, the movie will never be successful.

They should’ve taken the time to play ball within the Shazam universe. They could’ve paid homage to the character without being too much of a joke. I get not wanting to distract from the villains or in some cases antiheroes, power but you can’t change a movie to your liking and expect that fans will be on board. DC and the new DCU going forward needs to meet fans halfway. There needs to be creative freedom with these movies while still honoring the characters fans have come to love.