The following article contains spoiler information for Black Adam.
Black Adam has been in theaters for roughly two weeks and while it has had a mixed critical reception, it has been performing well against its budget at the box office. The film is currently sitting at a 40% critical reception on Rotten Tomatoes, however, it is fairing better with audiences, with a 90% audience score at the time of writing. At the box office, it has just passed the $250 million mark, while its budget was an estimated $200 million.
With Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson promoting this film as much as he did, and how hard he worked to get the film made, he would obviously be open to reprising his character in another film. But let’s examine the reasons why the film may or may not get a sequel a little closer, and discuss the areas a sequel may go into.
Will there be a Black Adam 2?
While Dwayne Johnson would most likely be agreeable to return as the DC anti-hero, DC has recently been undergoing structural changes, with the Discovery merger seeing the cancellation of Batgirl, and more recently with James Gunn and Peter Safran being named the two heads of DC’s film, animation, and television divisions. Of course, as the film has not been a financial disaster they would all be more inclined to return to the Black Adam character once again. But whether or not that falls in line with James Gunn’s plans for the DCU, we will have to wait and see.
As for the narrative of a possible follow-up to Jaume Collet-Serra’s Black Adam, there are a few different ways it could go. A possible Black Adam 2 could follow Black Adam as he tries to rebuild Kahndaq after its slow destruction over the hundreds of years while he was imprisoned. We could also see a threat come to Kahndaq but that might not be the best option as it would not be that different from the first film. The plot of a sequel could also follow Black Adam as he fights other characters or superheroes in the DCU.
It is possible that the film could deliver the promise of the post-credits scene of the first film and have Henry Cavill’s Superman fight Black Adam. But with Henry Cavill returning for a Man of Steel sequel, it is unlikely that they would want to double-dip and have Superman at the center of two different DCU films. There is another character he could face off against in the sequel, one who he was supposed to have met already as Johnson was supposed to first appear in the 2019 film Shazam!, before DC gave him his own project.
There is a strong possibility that Black Adam will be in the upcoming Shazam! sequel — Shazam! Fury of the Gods — which has finished filming and is scheduled to be released on March 17, 2023. However, he is not being touted as the villain of the sequel, that honor has been reserved for Lucy Liu and Dame Helen Mirren who play Kalypso and Hespera respectively. They are playing the daughters of the Titan Atlas, who seem to be targeting Shazam and his family because the wizard Shazam gave them the powers of the Greek Gods. With that being said either a second Black Adam film could be along those same lines, with Black Adam fighting against the Greek Gods to keep his powers, or if he does appear in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, they could be teasing a fight between Shazam and Black Adam in a Black Adam sequel. Or they could save it for a Shazam! 3, which might make more sense than introducing Shazam in Black Adam 2.Â
But if they do continue the story told in Black Adam, it does not necessarily have to follow the titular character. After all, the film did introduce the Justice Society of America, so we could have a spinoff of a spinoff and give that team their own film. Or we could see a solo film following one of those characters. While Cyclone and Atom Smasher are smaller characters in the DC Universe, both Hawkman and Doctor Fate are interesting enough to warrant their own films, whether they tell their stories as sequels or prequels. There is also the possibility that Amon, the boy in the film, could become Osiris.
With Pierce Brosnan’s Doctor Fate, aka Kent Nelson, a prequel could see someone else cast as the character as he gets his powers and joins the Justice Society of America. Or we could see a sequel with the character as even though he died in the film, a deleted post-credits scene would have seen a hand pick up his helmet. The new owner of the helmet was not reported in the original story so it might be Kent himself or someone new. It would be great if they did make another project with Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate, as most fans of the character agree that he was perfectly cast.
Hawkman’s (Aldis Hodge) backstory is actually quite interesting, even though his origin has changed many times over the course of his lengthy publication history. The character is usually either a reincarnation of an Egyptian prince or hails from the planet Thanagar. He uses Nth metal in his mace, and the metal was used in Black Adam. He has joined the Justice League multiple times in the comics as well, so he could appear in a future Justice League film. Hawkman is usually paired up with his partner Hawkgirl, who shares his origin story. A sequel with Hawkman could see him go solo, paired up with Hawkgirl, or lead another variation of the Justice Society.
As you can see there are many different ways that DC could continue some of the storylines in Black Adam, even if they did not follow the character himself. With the film seemingly being a commercial success, it does seem unlikely that DC will not take the opportunity to put Dwayne Johnson’s character in more films. With that being said, the film might not get a standalone sequel, but rather projects which expand on Black Adam’s character. If you do want a sequel to the film, go catch Black Adam while it is in theaters now to prove that his story is viable enough to warrant a follow-up.
