A spoiler-free discussion.
Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate, seen here in full costume
There is certainly a lot to be excited about when it comes to the Black Adam film. First of all, it will be the character’s debut into the DCEU, one that has been teased since as early as 2014 and looks to be inching closer towards materializing in July of this year. The introduction of Black Adam will also mark the increased potential for a Shazam versus Black Adam film in the near future as well, something the fans have been clamoring on for a long time, as the two characters are known rivals in the comics and video games.
With all that excitement out of the way, there is a point to ponder on that could very well potentially hint at where the DCEU is heading towards: the inclusion of the Justice Society of America in the Black Adam movie.
For the uninitiated, the Justice Society of America, often styled as JSA, is the first superhero team ever created in comic history, even before the Justice League. While the team has been through various updates and cancellations and revivals in the comics over the years, much of its core group members have remained the same, in particular Doctor Fate, Hawkman, and Atom Smasher.
The sudden introduction of the JSA into the Black Adam film is a worrying addition to the hopes of ever seeing the Justice League on screen again. As of the time of writing, there has been no certifiable word that a Justice League 2 is in the works, and it certainly looks like the JSA has been added to the DCEU to act as a sort of surrogate superhero team while the studio figures out what to do next with the Justice League.
Of course, this is not to say that the JSA is not an exciting superhero team to root for, far from it. The JSA is more than capable of having their own spinoff film or limited TV show on HBO MAX should the Black Adam film be a total success. However, it is a little sad to note that the studio has opted to create a whole new superhero team for the fans instead of giving them a continuation to a team that they are already familiar with.
Still, we would like to think that the JSA is in no way set to replace the Justice League in the DCEU. After all, it would be a silly move on the studio’s part to drop the Justice League from its line-up of potential sequels, given the success of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. There is still plenty of stories to tell, and one only hopes that the Justice Society of America would not impede the efforts of the creative team intending to tell the next Justice League story.
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