Black Adam got here to HBO Max on Friday, after DC Comics’ violent antihero film concluded its theatrical run. With Dwayne Johnson within the lead function, Adam beats up hero and villain alike after being launched from a 5,000-year imprisonment, from the early scenes till the credit roll (the post-credits scene is relatively chill).

“The arrival of megastar Dwayne Johnson within the DC universe, plus the lengthy await the movie’s arrival, constructed Black Adam into feeling like an occasion,” CNET’s Richard Trenholm mentioned in his assessment. “Now it is right here, and it does not really feel that momentous. Nonetheless, it is a large spectacular time on the motion pictures, and what extra would you like from the Rock?”

A lot of this Shazam spinoff’s battle is brought on by the friction between Adam and the Justice Society of America, which incorporates Physician Destiny (Pierce Brosnan), Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell).

Nonetheless, there’s another hero ready within the wings. Somebody who seems solely when Black Adam’s first journey is finished, nevertheless it’s a cameo that hits in another way following a current transfer by new DC Studios boss James Gunn.

Let’s Shazam our method into the land of SPOILERS and discuss concerning the post-credits scene.

The Man of Metal returns

With demonic champion Sabbac ripped in two and Black Adam firmly put in as Kahndaq’s champion, Activity Drive X boss Amanda Waller (performed by Viola Davis, and final seen in HBO Max collection Peacemaker) sends a drone to the temple Adam hangs out in so she will be able to have a pleasant Zoom with the antihero. 

Sadly, Waller is incapable of being pleasant and is livid about Adam escaping captivity in her base. She warns him to remain in Kahndaq or she’ll ship extraordinarily highly effective individuals who owe her favors to cease him. 

Adam principally tells her to convey it on, so a flying being lands dramatically and a well-recognized caped silhouette emerges from the smoke.

Oh jeepers, guys, it is solely Superman (Henry Cavill).

“It has been some time since anybody’s made the world so nervous,” the Kryptonian hero says. “Black Adam, we must always discuss.”

What does it imply?

It positive seemed like we have been gonna get extra of Cavill’s model of Superman, and he was virtually definitely going to combat Black Adam. Nonetheless, Cavill later introduced that the combat’s been referred to as off — he will not be returning to the function in any case. 

Because the film’s launch, dad or mum firm Warner Bros. Discovery mentioned director James Gunn (answerable for The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, in addition to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy collection) and producer Peter Safran, will lead the reorganized DC Studios. On Dec. 14, Cavill mentioned he met with the pair, who advised him their interpretation of DC’s cinematic universe wanted a contemporary interpretation of the character — Gunn later confirmed this in a tweet.

“Amongst these on the slate is Superman,” he wrote. “Within the preliminary levels, our story might be specializing in an earlier a part of Superman’s life, so the character is not going to be performed by Henry Cavill.”

The exhausting reboot is smart, however Johnson is undoubtedly dissatisfied. He shared a few of his concepts about how the battle would play out with YouTuber Jake’s Takes in an interview previous to the film’s launch. 

“I feel Black Adam lands the primary punch. Now, I do not know if Black Adam lands the final punch,” he mentioned. “I can see issues so clearly … what that scene appears to be like like, what that movie appears to be like like, what the subsequent three movies appear like. Now, whether or not or not that involves fruition — that all the time helps, when you might have that type of readability.”

Cavill Supes debuted in 2013’s Man of Metal and was final seen in Zack Snyder’s Justice League (aka the Snyder Minimize) in 2021, and that film’s ending left us in an superior darkish future the place he’d been corrupted. 

The director mentioned that is not canon, however each the Snyder Minimize and Joss Whedon’s 2017 model of the film see the uncorrupted, present-day Superman becoming a member of Batman and Surprise Girl getting ready to arrange the Justice League. 

The workforce additionally confirmed up within the finale of HBO present Peacemaker earlier this yr, however Superman remained within the shadows in that look (he was performed by Brad Abramenko). The character confirmed up in comparable trend in 2019’s Shazam, the place he was solely seen from the neck down (and portrayed by Ryan Handley).

So Superman has by no means been too removed from our screens. The character is iconic and archetypal sufficient that a number of variations might exist (and doubtless come collectively in a multiversal crossover like Spider-Man: No Means Dwelling). Cavill will virtually definitely return to the function sometime, however we might by no means see the battle with Black Adam is it was initially deliberate.

What can the comics inform us?

Black Adam’s lengthy comedian ebook historical past is advanced resulting from DC’s a number of continuity reboots, having began out as a villain again in 1945. He is grow to be extra nuanced within the a long time since, shifting towards a darkish antihero who typically enters into uneasy alliances with the heroes (largely as a result of he is a violent, unpredictable and type of a jerk).

That would have occurred within the subsequent film as nicely — Adam and Superman would probably have had an epic battle earlier than reaching some type of a truce. Regardless of his bodily prowess, Superman is historically weak to magic, which means Adam would have had the benefit.

Shazam might have gotten concerned too, since he and Superman are buds and Shazam’s powers are derived from the identical supply as Adam’s. Regardless, that character will present up in Shazam: Fury of the Gods, which is scheduled to hit theaters on March 17, 2023.