Is Black Adam A Bad Guy? | It’s Not A Simple Answer

Is Black Adam a good guy or is Black Adam a bad guy?

Black Adam is a film based on the DC Comic superhero/supervillain who fights whatever he perceives as evil from a place of vengeance, grief, and rage. His label has been reconciled to that of an anti-hero. 

I’m not well-versed with the comics but in the film, Black Adam begins as an everyday Khandaq man (Khandaq being a desert country in the Middle East) who is blessed by the gods to be a champion and deliverer of his enslaved people from the tyrannical rule of their king. Thousands of years after being put in a dormant state due to the chaotic destruction of his unbridled rage, Black Adam is awoken again to protect his people from their biggest threat yet. 

This film provides a lot of nuances between good and bad and this DC universe (I don’t know whether intentionally or unintentionally) mirrors the finicky good and evil symbols and structures in our present-day world. 

But the main question “Is Black Adam a Bad Guy?” is a complex one to address because the answer is not an obvious yes or no.

Is Black Adam a Bad Guy?

Righteous Anger

Part of being good is having a deep hatred for evil. It’s human and good to feel angry when you see bad things happening in the world. And there is a satisfaction that comes with seeing justice enacted. 

That’s why Black Adam is more of an atypical hero than a villain because in this film, although he comes close to harming the “good guys,” he never really does. We only see him ultimately destroy the bad guys of the film.

As an audience, we root him on. We root for the good guys.

Seeing Black Adam completely annihilate the film’s main antagonist was admittedly quite satisfying.

If Black Adam killed or severely harmed someone that the audience cared for then that would greatly complicate his standing as an anti-hero. But it still wouldn’t have dethroned him as a “good guy” completely.

Superhero characters like Bucky Barnes from the Marvel Universe have become good guys after years of being the villain and characters like Wanda (Scarlett Witch) have volleyed between being the good guy and the bad guy several times. I still love these characters and believe in the good in them.

Honestly, the muddiness of these characters’ morality makes them so much more interesting to watch.

The End of the White Knight

“The world doesn’t always need a white knight, sometimes it needs something darker.”

Dr. Fate, Black Adam

This is the most foundational quote of the film “Black Adam” serving as the vision board for the movie’s lighting and editing team as well. The color was oversaturated and the contrast leaned a bit heavy on the dark side just like Black Adam himself…

Nice guys finish last.

Girls like bad boys.

We like someone with a little edge. Someone who can relate to the dark sides of ourselves. Then we don’t feel so bad for wanting to run over the person who rudely cut us off on the highway. 

Evil is unfortunately part of our human nature. And evil is becoming more commonly accepted in pop culture and media.

Films similar to this one (like Dr. Strange 2 or Cruella) are now saying that good is not strong enough against evil. In fact, we have to fight evil with a less potent form of evil. It implies that good is too weak. 

Goodness is weakness.

We’re in the era of bad boys now.

Overall Thoughts on Black Adam

I actually quite enjoyed this movie. There were plot twists and unexpected surprises that kept me on my toes and kept me awake.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Black Adam is perfection. His comedic timing is on point as always with dry humor, a low monotone grovel in his voice, and an intense manner about him, aired away by touching moments of tenderness for the main character’s family. 

Besides “The Rock”, there was not too much more to love about the film’s characters.

Atom Smasher, played by Noah Centineo, has the power of Ant-Man, the wannabe humor of Spider-Man, and the vibes of an annoying teenager who’s trying to be cool. Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone looked like she accidentally took a wrong turn on her way to a Maybelline commercial. Aldis Hodge played Hawk Man with the confident leadership skills of Captain America and the uniform of Marvel’s Falcon. And Dr. Fate, played by Pierce Brosnan, is practically Dr. Strange. They didn’t even try to hide the fact that they copy and pasted Dr. Strange into the DCEU.

The Justice Society characters all felt like a Great Value version of Marvel characters. That was a bit distracting and made the film feel a bit fake, cheap in a way. The characterization of these superheroes wasn’t distinct enough for them to live in their own lane. 

I also felt no sympathy for the main lady and her son. The son was quite irritating and the mother just felt distant. There was no personal connection with her character. The sister’s brother, played by comedian Mo Amer, was pretty decent. He was an obvious comic relief and I was afraid to lose him. 

In Conclusion…

So to conclude, is Black Adam a bad guy?

Is Black Adam a hero or a villain?

If we restrict the answer to his debut film then no. He can’t be the bad guy. He saves his people time and time again. Those who are good feel protected around him and those who are bad fear him.

Isn’t that the definition of a god?

However, Black Adam is not too good lest he becomes “boring.” He’s got an edge, an unpredictability, a chaos that makes him fascinating to watch.

No one wants good guys anymore. This is the age of the Anti-hero, just ask Taylor Swift.

Rating: 7.5/10

Is Black Adam the good guy or the bad guy? Let me know in the comments below!

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Peace, love, and lots of popcorn,

IMO