Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Black Adam.
Black Adam, the film about the anti-hero of the same name, has finally thundered into theaters. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — the star of the film — has been trying to get this film made for a number of years and has finally succeeded. Black Adam, whose real name is Teth-Adam, is a frequent villain and anti-hero in the DC universe, often fighting the hero Shazam. The reason he comes up against Shazam is that the two characters share fairly similar origin stories, with both characters having their powers granted to them by the Council of Wizards. Let’s take a look at the Council of Wizards, their role in Black Adam and the wider DC Extended Universe, and see if we know who they are.
Who is the Council of Wizards?
The Council of Wizards consists of a group of wizards who — among other things — can infuse humans with the powers of the Gods. In Black Adam, these wizards empowered Teth-Adam’s son Hurut as their champion, who would go on to fight the forces of the evil King Ahk-Ton and become the ruler of Kahndaq. Unfortunately, his forces attack Hurut’s family, killing his mother and mortally wounding Teth-Adam. To save his father, Hurut gives him the power that was given to him and is immediately killed afterward.
In a rage, Teth-Adam obliterates the entirety of the King’s forces, and in doing so he forced the hands of the Council of Wizards who attempted to imprison him. While they succeed in imprisoning Teth-Adam, he manages to kill seven of the eight wizards, leaving only the wizard who was played by Djimon Hounsou alive. This is important as he was the same wizard who later empowered Billy Batson with the powers of Shazam.
Although, when the Council of Wizards gave Hurut his powers, they gave him the powers drawing upon the Egyptian Gods. But for Shazam, the powers were drawn from the Greek Gods. Otherwise, both Black Adam and Shazam have very similar powers. But as for who the Council of Wizards actually was in Black Adam, we do not know. Their names were never revealed. It is possible that they could be an adaptation of the Circle of Eternity from the comics, made up of demigods who were also imbued with the energy of the Gods. But as it stands they were unnamed and barely in the film so it is doubtful we will ever know who they truly were.
There could always be answers in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which is scheduled to be released on March 17, 2023, but for now, you will have to settle with their brief appearance in Black Adam – which is in theaters now.
