Find out where to watch Black Adam, starring Dwayne Johnson as a slave bestowed with superhuman powers by ancient Egyptian Gods before reawakening to find his homeland still oppressed.
As film studios worked through the long catalog of comic book figures not yet granted feature films, it was inevitable that the Black Adam would eventually find his way to the big screen. Director Jaume Collet-Serra is no stranger to Dwayne Johnson or action films, most recently working on Jungle Cruise starring the incredibly popular actor. In Black Adam, Johnson plays a former slave who managed to overthrow the oppressive rulers of his ancient society of Khandaq after acquiring godlike abilities. Teth-Adam abuses his powers seeking revenge for his son's death, nearly destroying the society. Black Adam is then revived by a modern-day archeologist Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) who finds him imprisoned in a tomb. Upon his resurrection, Black Adam encounters of the Intergang, an international mercenary group that currently rules over Khandaq, and with ease eliminates all the soldiers in his path. Adrianna along with her son Amon (Bodhi Sabongui) and brother Karim (Mohammed Amer) then try to convince Black Adam to once again use his abilities to free the people of Khandaq from Intergang.
You can learn if Black Adam becomes a modern-day superhero fighting for the oppressed people of Khandaq, and watch Black Adam streaming now on Amazon Prime through an HBO Max subscription.
Watch Black Adam on Amazon Prime Video
Is Black Adam DC Comics' Darkest Superhero Yet?
Convincing Black Adam to fight for the people of contemporary Kahndaq proves to be a struggle, as he hesitates to recognize the society as having anything to do with his own homeland. Black Adam is still consumed by guilt over the loss of his son, whose death he feels responsible for. The reluctant hero effectively destroys anyone and anything in the vicinity that tries to attack him but otherwise looks unmotivated as he wrestles with modern advancements, walking through walls instead of using doors. Another complication for Adrianna and her allies is government official Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), who enlists Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) to capture Black Adam, who she sees as an uncontrollable threat. Along with Dr. Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Atom Smasher, (Noah Centineo) and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), Hawkman takes off for Kahndaq but is unsuccessful in defeating Black Adam despite his small army of superheroes, until he later willingly enters their custody.
Black Adam gradually embraces his role as the leader of freedom fighters against the rule of Intergang, but fans of older comic books may struggle to see him as anything but a merciless villain. Starting in The Marvel Family #1 comic in 1945, Black Adam was a character who embraces his powers and uses them for personal gain. More recent comics softened the image of Black Adam, and even saw him working alongside the Justice League battling common enemies. With some alterations to his origin story, a more reformed Black Adam has also found his way into Jaume Collet-Serra's movie. In the film, viewers learn that Black Adam then known as Teth-Adam was not actually the intended recipient of the Gods' superpowers, but rather it was his son Hurut (Jalon Christian) selected to be the savior of Kahndaq. Hurut transfers his powers to his father in order to spare his life before drying at the hands of an enemy archer, resulting in Teth-Adam having eternal powers he refers to as a curse in the movie.
Superhero movies starring villains have been successful in a handful of cases, most notably with the 2019 Joker, but this is clearly not the direction the screenplay goes in the recent Black Adam movie. With his tendency to kill and destroy without a second thought, Black Adam never achieves true superhero status, but by the end of the movie, he works alongside Adrianna and the Justice Society to defeat the new enemies of Kahndaq. Past representations of Black Adam would lead viewers to expect him to use his powers to conquer Kahndaq and possibly the rest of Earth, but instead, he becomes the protector of people he finally identifies with as his own descendants.
Where to Watch Black Adam
Black Adam features a strong ing cast of more wholesome superheroes who nevertheless have their own complicated backstories that seem prime for feature films of their own. Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate may be the most heroic character in the film, as he sacrifices himself allowing Black Adam and the Justice Society to defeat Sabbac and his hellish powers. Black Adam himself is most accurately categorized as an antihero, and with a sequel looking unlikely, viewers may have to wait until future DC Universe movies to see if he can protect Kahndaq without straying into the dark side. Until then, you can stream Black Adam now on Amazon Prime with an HBO Max subscription.
