‘Black Adam’ Bests ‘Shazam,’ Meaning ‘Black Adam 2’ Is Inevitable

The opening weekend numbers are in, and Black Adam has…performed quite well. While there are some absurd qualifiers about its opening (“it’s the biggest non-Superman, Batman, Aquaman or Wonder Woman opening for a DC movie besides Joker!”), the fact is, a $67 million domestic opening with $140 million worldwide is certainly “good enough,” especially given that we are grading on a post-pandemic curve.

It’s been obvious for years now that The Rock has grand master plans for Black Adam in the DCEU, but the question was always whether or not the film would be good enough or perform well enough to warrant future investment in the character.

The answer appears to be yes. While critics are scoring it pretty dismally, its 39% on Rotten Tomatoes is tied with Joss Whedon’s mangled Justice League, audience scores are sky high at 90% and these box office numbers are promising.

We can already use the transitive property to predict that Black Adam 2 is a sure thing. Shazam, pre-pandemic, opened with a $53 million haul, less than Black Adam even in better times for theaters back in 2019. And while it took a while to get here, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, did indeed get made, so if that exists, there’s no reason Black Adam 2 shouldn’t arrive in a couple more years.

So, what’s it going to be about? You may expect The Rock to leap directly into the rivalry/alliance with Superman he’s been hard selling for months now, essentially spoiling parts of his own movie, but it appears that may be further down the line.

The Rock is now saying explicitly that Superman is not the “next step” and that they have more “long term storytelling” to do before they can make that happen:

I’m not sure what “more new characters” to establish means, other than perhaps building out the JSA further. It also seems like at some point, Black Adam will have to cross paths with his actual rival, Shazam, and I do wonder if Adam will have a cameo in Fury of the Gods, which would be pretty logical. Or if Shazam would have a role in Black Adam 2. Regardless, it does seem like The Rock recognizes he can’t just leap into Black Adam V. Superman immediately.

A lot of this may have to do with the nebulous direction of DC in general, where having just lost the beleaguered Walter Hamada, it’s not really clear where the long term future of the DCEU goes, which is also joined by side projects like Joker and The Batman sequels. Plus everything on HBO Max. The Rock has offered himself up to advise the DC universe’s direction from here and even help search for a new head. It’s unclear if Black Adam’s performance will lend his that much sway, but it’s not like anyone is proposing anything much more coherent.

The most likely scenario here is the next step for Black Adam just being…Black Adam 2. Probably not with Superman in a supporting role, who is supposed to be slated for Man of Steel 2, which WB now wants to do, thanks in part to The Rock pushing for Cavill’s return. Once we know anything about the future of Black Adam, you can bet The Rock will be blasting it all over social media for the next few years until the release of the sequel.

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