10) He’s From Ancient Egypt
The first thing you should know is that Black Adam is an incredibly ancient individual. Heralding from the time of the pharaohs of Egypt, he was originally Teth-Adam, the son of Rameses II. After impressing the great wizard Shazam with his good deeds, he was granted superpowers to become the hero Mighty-Adam. He served as Egypt’s protector for centuries, until he fell under the thrall of Shazam’s evil daughter Blaze who convinced him – Lady Macbeth-like – to kill the pharaoh and rule himself.
This displeased Shazam, who removed his powers and contained them in a scarab. With his magic removed, the aging process rapidly catches up with Adam and he turns to dust. It’s only thousands of years later when an American ancestor of his recovers the scarab that he is able to resurrect himself and cause trouble in the modern world.
Just like Shazam calls on the powers of six Greek Gods, Black Adam draws his abilities from six Egyptian gods. Namely, he has the stamina of Shu, the swiftness of Horus, the strength of Amon, the wisdom of Zehuti, the power of Aton and the courage of Mehen.
