Written By Mikey Sutton • Editor-in-Chief • Owner
Warner Bros Discovery hopes that Black Adam will rejuvenate the DCEU. Although Black Adam doesn’t reboot the DCEU, it expands the franchise. The film introduces several characters from comics’ Golden Age of the ’40s. However, to the general public, they’re fresh.
For example, the Justice Society debuted in All Star Comics No. 3 in 1940. While it’s true the JSA appeared in TV series like Smallville and Stargirl, this marks their first appearance on the silver screen. Superheroes such as Doctor Fate and Hawkman glow like shiny new toys.
Similarly, Black Adam is far from new. His roots stretch back to The Marvel Family No. 1 in 1945. As a matter of fact, DC Comics didn’t even own him then. Fawcett Comics had his rights like Shazam.
Warner Bros Discovery Hopes Black Adam Will Rejuvenate The DCEU
Image: Warner Bros.
Yet there’s nothing dated in Black Adam‘s trailers. In other words, they’re updated to modern tastes unlike other comics icons of the period like the Phantom and the Shadow. Certainly, it helps that DC Films had contemporary interpretations to model them after. Writers such as James Robinson, David S. Goyer, and Geoff Johns relaunched the Justice Society into praised and successful series in the late ’90s and early ’00s.
Prior to that, writer Roy Thomas’ All-Star Squadron brought these beloved characters to a new generation. Black Adam attempts to do the same.
Because of the old Warner Bros. regime’s mismanagement, the DCEU gasps behind Marvel Studios’ billion-dollar dust. Studio interference wounded the works of Zack Snyder and David Ayer. Although Wonder Woman and Aquaman became solid hits, others didn’t fare as well.
As a matter of fact, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad died at the box office. Likewise, audiences clipped the wings of Birds of Prey. Wonder Woman 1984 used the pandemic to hide behind its mediocrity.
Warner Bros Discovery Hopes Black Adam Will Rejuvenate The DCEU
Image: Warner Bros.
Granted, Joker smashed a billion globally. On the other hand, it wasn’t part of the DCEU. Neither was Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which fell short of a billion.
As YouTube personality Syl Abdul scooped in August, the DCEU will follow the SnyderVerse timeline instead of a reboot. Still, Black Adam has to succeed. Without a doubt, Henry Cavill’s rumored cameo as Superman will boost its numbers. Nevertheless, sources reveal executives acknowledge some nervousness of a polarized DCEU crowd.
Black Adam has to win everyone over, both SnyderVerse followers and the casuals. The Rock is trying to unite both. Cavill provides that bridge. Thus, Black Adam has the potential to kick-start the DCEU prior to The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Therefore, that makes Black Adam more important than you probably realize.