How Black Adam Was The Death Blow For The DCEU

[@R1ch4d8]

I love how there was a part where Black Adam has to fight a bunch of soldiers without his powers, a scene that's pretty much gift-wrapped to show your main character be vulnerable and get knocked down, but because Dwayne Johnson is *so* against appearing weak on screen, even Black Adam's smaller, de-powered human form tears through bad guys like John Wick. He's getting smacked with rifle butts, getting shot and just shrugging it off. Even when he's in his smaller, powerless form, the Rock still has to be the strongest guy in the room.

[@clivemancity6499]

your comment is childish do you think its The rock or its the director who came up with that...

[@R1ch4d8]

@@clivemancity6499 Ha. My comment is observant. And the answer's the Rock. Cos he's had it in his contract since the Fast & Furious days that he isn't to be shown losing a fight or being drastically overpowered by someone. Imagine actually thinking that the hired-hand director of Black Adam has more power and influence on set than Dwayne Johnson.

[@RHYSCO51]

@@clivemancity6499 Name one movie where Dwayne Johnson loses a fight

[@clivemancity6499]

@@RHYSCO51 haaa Doom

[@R1ch4d8]

@@clivemancity6499 That was when he was still trying to be a big movie star, before he had the power he now has. Post-Fast Five, he doesn't want to be seen being anybody's bitch.

[@consistentlystupid4726]

The only thing I think this video gets wrong is implying that you need to showcase a hero's most iconic villain in their first movie. The Dark Knight is a perfect example of being able to save a villain for the second movie AFTER the character has already been established, as a lot of the first movie (When it's an origin story) is about the character trying to learn what they can do which ultimately takes away from the villain.

[@Carabas72]

The video also gets wrong exactly how important Black Adam is to the Shazam comics. He wasn't important at all. In the original run of the comics he had just the one, singular appearance and only got popular like half a century later when DC relaunched him as more of a solo character and anti-hero instead of a Shazam villain. And the villain of the Shazam movie, sivana, really is the arch-nemesis and opposite of the hero. Sivana is Lex Luthor to Shazam's Superman. Except of course Sivana predates Luthor.

[@GoFidoGo]

@@Carabas72 Agreed. Making a standalone Black Adam could have been a great way to introduce the sort of palpable moral ambiguity that DCEU was lacking up until that point. DC is full of interesting anti-heros. But til now the only exploration of that has been in the tv shows with actual villains (BvS tried but was executed terribly).

[@scientia.veritas]

@@Carabas72 except, nobody outside comic book readers know Dr. Sivana. They never cared for him, never rooted for him, and he was a pretty mediocre villain to begin with. Even before the Shazam film came out, Black Adam was considered THE villain for the character. And thats all that matters. Reverse Flash wasn't introduced for atleast 4 decades since the first Flash, but ask anyone who is the archnemesis of Flash and you will have your answer. Hell, Doomsday was created half a century after Superman and is yet his 3rd biggest villain behind Luthor and Darkseid.

[@aster390]

@@scientia.veritas this!

[@aster390]

Batman has a huge rogues gallery though compared to shazam plus Batman is iconic and well known. The video should have specified on level of notoriety but when talking about Shazam and black Adam, it was spot on

[@birukmulugeta5817]

one of the problems of the Rock is that he wants to be the center of it all

[@VeritabIlIti]

And no one wants him there other than for marketing

[@birukmulugeta5817]

@@VeritabIlIti he can't even act well

[@DuchessChau]

the number one major issue. And it kills me, cause if he'd had just played a villian to Shazam, he could have gone the Loki route. Good when you need to be or forced to be.

[@VeritabIlIti]

@@birukmulugeta5817 literally. Which is hilarious when they cast him alongside Pierce Brosnan, who can.

[@GamingWithNLGamer]

I wanted him fighting Shazam but he wanted to fight Superman which was too much of a hassle to bring Cavill back only to be axed the next second. I like The Rock but he shouldn’t make all these big decisions

[@TaskForce_911]

Dwayne 'Rock' Johnson wanted the hierarchy of the DC Universe to really change and he did it by flopping Black Adam hard so we can get new heads of DCU, Peter Safran and James Gunn. I love this man so much

[@joriankell1983]

So he wrote the movie? Because it was bad.

[@KoolKeithProductions]

Nice lie you told there. Gunn was hired AFTER BLK Adam was made. How the hell do you think Henry was back as Superman if Gunn was in charge then? Grow up.

[@crocodileguy4319]

​@KoolKeithProductions a joke ≠ a lie

[@bullymaguire9318]

​@@KoolKeithProductionsin

[@HMF47]

Another major issue with Johnson's ego is that he doesn't want his characters to show any vulnerability. How are we supposed to feel urgency and tension in the action scenes with a character who's pretty much invincible?

[@ForeverknightGaming]

That's wrong, immediate movie that comes to mind is central intelligence.

[@stringer2295]

Yea exactly, if I know your contracts state that you can lose a fight or look like it, I have no emotional stake in the character

[@mckstellar1005]

@@ForeverknightGaming Central intelligence was so surface level tho and only at the beginning... he's basically perfect from that point on and has a answer for everything until the bully appears and then it's cleaned up so easily. I mean it's not a bad movie and admittedly he has more 1 more flaw then usual (0) but a comedy outlier doesn't exactly make a gotcha.

[@Skeletontiger]

@@ForeverknightGaming yeah dude, he’s fat and ugly for 10 minutes and the perfect and buff for the rest, totally flawed character

[@leafyishereisdumbnameakath4259]

@@ForeverknightGaming exactly. But that's the one exception I think

[@delix787]

Man, this movie felt like it was locked up from 2007. The black Adam flashbacks looked exactly like the movie 300. 🙃

[@JamesLawner]

All those slo-mo scenes made me realize Zack Snyder should’ve directed this movie instead of Man of Steel.

[@dinochookproductions5190]

@@JamesLawner agreed

[@oranjmix]

Well it's been in pre-production for eons

[@herloss448]

@@JamesLawner pls dont let hack snyder go near dc

[@v-trigger6137]

Zack Snyder would've definitely knock it outta the park, had he made this. this character was simply tailor made for his style (not Superman). heck if, snyder had directed this movie with the exact same cast, I'm sure he could've even bring out a decent performance from Rock,

[@KingOfMadCows]

WB/DC has built an interconnected universe before, it's called the DC Animated Universe, and it's fantastic. And they didn't even plan it out, they had no idea if their shows would get renewed, all the continuity and story arcs were done on the fly.

[@ak_hoops]

I can't comprehend how it's so hard honestly...

[@sneakykamon]

I hear you but its easier to pull off an Animated Universe than a Live Action one. A lot easier. Now the fact that the Arrowverse pulled it off better and gave us a better Justice League than the movie, and with a CW budget? Now THAT still blows my mind.

[@deathsyth8888]

Warner Bros executives: "We want to have the success of Marvel Studios without the time, effort and planning. We have to get our own 'Iron Man' to an 'The Avengers' level team up in 3 movies or less. Right now!" (Proceeds to do cocaine off a hookers back)

[@jonbodhi]

@@sneakykamon I don’t see why the script for a movie needs to be more difficult than one for a cartoon, because you could have filmed those scripts and gotten a far better reception than what the movies have turned out. Of course, they were written by people who know and live the characters.

[@sneakykamon]

@@jonbodhi It’s not about the scripts, it’s about the budget for the productions. Think about any animated superhero movie you saw and all the fantastical things they’re able to pull off then compare that to any live action superhero movie. The people complaining about not seeing their favorite superheroes getting an epic movie tend to be the same people criticizing the MCU over CGI. Like I said - it’s a lot easier to pull off an intricate and amazing cinematic universe in animation than it will ever be in live action. It just is. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be making the comparison.

[@bhasty1]

I actually enjoyed Pierce Brosnan in the movie it's just a pity about the rest of it.

[@joquishajoestar263]

Yeah definitely the best part

[@dividendjohnson4327]

I was so sad that he and Hawkman get all of one, maybe .75 of a scene to be buddies in; they were by far the most interesting part of the film, especially Fate.

[@jonnnnniej]

I liked the team and their interactions more than the rest of the movie :') at least it seemed like there was potential there

[@colmlooney5843]

Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate is somthing i didnt know i needed. Rip to that idea

[@xzero422]

It's too bad he took his helmet off the moment he appears on screen. That costume was awesome.

[@oneofakind9995]

I felt Black Adam was written like an elementary schooler wrote him. "Let's make him blow every thing up in a million miles, no a bazillion million miles, unlike most super pusses let make him kill. Murder for sake of murder, it's so mature."

[@keithmichael112]

"let's have him say he's not a hero like 20 times"

[@Mr.SledgeHammer]

Black Adam was atleast written by an elementary schooler. Love and thunder felt like it was written by a toddler. 'hero chase villian. Villian take children . Hero give power to children. Children become hero . Aaaahhhhhh .. villian die. Movie end'

[@shantoochee2038]

@@Mr.SledgeHammer 😭😂

[@bluesyrupgc4224]

@@Mr.SledgeHammer I swear the ending of Love and Thunder just reminds me so much of the old Disney movie where the children defeated the principal robot guy by saying I have a dream

[@e-satan9032]

Tell them the man in black sent you.

[@Kerorofan1990]

The Rock's ego finally got the better of him, and it sadly killed an entire movie universe.

[@ghidorah15]

Oh, no, that universe needed to die and be rebooted.

[@unknowncommonman]

The universe caught the fire of Black Adam, The Rock he will be fine.

[@ForeverknightGaming]

The fact that they are gonna keep Ezra Miller but cut the rest is absolutely insane.

[@Drifter1989]

It’s not confirmed. Quit believing rumors till there’s confirmation. They only confirmed certain actors being done in their roles because they have no upcoming projects starring them. Actors like Momoa, Levi, & Miller aren’t confirmed to be recasted yet because they still have movies coming out and don’t want any chance at hurting the box office.

[@MA_KA_PA_TIE]

Probably because all of Hollywood are pedophiles

[@VoiceNerd]

Not confirmed yet

[@Carabas72]

What is truelly insane is that people actually believe they already made that decision months before they'll even know if The Flash will make money or not.

[@yohanbosu]

after the flash movie, ezra will be gone. they just kinda rely on the flash movie because it will reset the dceu

[@seantheimp]

Hawkman: "Heroes don't kill people." Black Adam: "I do." Superman: "So do I." Batman: "Me too." Wonder Woman: "I've killed so many people it's not even funny."

[@jaimebyrd3578]

thats a point i rarely see mentioned. its hard to make Black Adam stand out as the hero who kills when all the other Snyderverse guys seem to have no problem killing people.

[@knightmare_edits]

Literally every Avenger except Spider-Man has killed people. And innocent people too. Black Adam killed corrupt soldiers? Big deal. Bucky, Wanda and Natasha killed a shit ton of innocents.

[@jaimebyrd3578]

@@knightmare_edits First of all, the examples you listed were Marvel, not DC. Second, the movie wanted you to think that Black Adam killing people was a big deal, but it fell flat because the DCEU didn't establish heroes with a no kill code before this.

[@seantheimp]

@@jaimebyrd3578 lol You're technically right that his examples were all Marvel, but it kinda ends up supporting the thesis. Everyone in this comment thread has already been harping on about Supes, Bats, and Wonder Woman being killers in the DCEU, but the fact is that the _entire Superhero Genre_ right now is mostly comprised of heroes who are willing to kill, with very few exceptions. Right now the _default_ for a Hero is "more or less cool with lethal vigilantism."

[@knightmare_edits]

@@seantheimp Yeah. That other guy completely missed my point. The fact is, superheroes tend to have blood on their hands, and most often, it's no big deal. Just consider Deadpool, Wolverine, etc. What really makes Black Adam morally ambiguous? If anything, even Strange is more corrupt since he literally ended universes just for a girl.

[@SourRobo8364]

A Magneto solo movie sounds badass.

[@sillyking1991]

yeah they definitely missed the mark with that criticism. there are plenty of villains, you don't need to use the quinessential villain every time.

[@alexman378]

That’s what X-Men First Class was meant to be initially

[@sneakykamon]

IIRC it was supposed to happen right after X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But then X-Men Origins: Wolverine happened…🤷🏾‍♂️

[@whosaidthat84]

But you got to know him in X-Men first

[@LeonardoKlotz]

I still love when horror directors make superhero movies

[@Rozza2k]

Yeah it definitely gives the film a more unique feel, that's why I was especially disappointed in multiverse of madness

[@nickmontanaro9638]

Meh. Blackburn was better than any of them.

[@biguy617]

@@Rozza2k I actually liked the movie. It isn’t as good as the Spider-Man movies but it isn’t his worse movie either. My only disappointment was that Baron Mordo wasn’t the main villain. I am fine that Scarlett Witch was the villain.

[@ALLmasked]

@@Rozza2k the conclusion of wandavision says it all. they've wasted mephisto.

[@Rozza2k]

@@ALLmasked at this point they spared him lol, but hopefully guardians 3 and ant man 3 are a call back to old mcu films instead of the recent marvel drivel

[@digbyskellington]

A wrestler using backstage politics to undercut and hobble a planned storyline? I've never heard of such a thing!

[@phacelesshero]

If this film had been made 10-15 years ago it would have been great. Recall thinking about how I've already seen all these action scenes 50 times. Too late DC! Awesome vid Nerdstalgic!!

[@aliciaechodumont2808]

Transformers?

[@clayongunzelle9555]

The Rock is everywhere and nowhere all at once... Seeing him in so many movies is starting to disable my suspension of disbelief

[@sneakykamon]

2:11 There, that’s why the movie failed. He thought he was above the story they were trying to tell originally. Yes, Dwayne is a mega-star now but as it has been said numerous times before, people don’t go to see these movies because of the actors involved - they go for the characters. Also, this is what you get when you let a (former) wrestler drive the creative direction of an IP he didn’t create. Like imagine if John Cena made all the creative decisions on Peacemaker.

[@SirQuantization]

Him being a wrestler is irrelevant otherwise I agree

[@sneakykamon]

@@SirQuantization My point was he’s not a screenwriter. Writing scripts and breaking down a decent story is much more complex than simply writing a promo and spouting catchphrases at someone standing across from you. Yes, The Rock produced Black Adam but clearly it was to have more creative control over the film. His own ego ruined something that was over a decade in the making and for what, to promise a fight that he will never get to deliver? He was pretty much promoting a wrestling match on film.

[@meep9231]

@@sneakykamon tbh I think that’s one of the main differences between John Cena and the Rock when it comes to their films. Though John Cena is still gonna be known for his WWE career, he knows how to serve the movies he’s in despite some of them being mostly decent.

[@sneakykamon]

@@meep9231 Absolutely. Case in point: Trainwreck. Cena’s a complete buffoon in that movie, but at the very least he’s in on the joke. Even in comedies, Rock is afraid to laugh at himself; he always has to be the cool guy. That’s why I’m starting to think he’s been making so many movies with Kevin Hart, he needs to be the straight man no matter what. I’m not saying The Rock’s always had an ego but it’s definitely been showing since Fast 6 or 7.

[@boccobadz]

@@SirQuantization Rock is really self aware since his whole career was built on him being huge and lying about being natty. He's not a good actor and certainly has no idea how to write a good story. That's because he's neither an actor nor screenwriter - he's just a former, juiced up to the gills, wrestler.

[@ColdFuse96]

I didn't see this movie, but like goddamn. THREE Egyptian heroes, and they didn't even use them together??? Did they not know what they were working with?!?!

[@jaredgarcia8638]

I'm hoping James Gunn has a strong outline of how the DCU should be. If anything, he should've been working on DC from the beginning

[@Carabas72]

I hope he doesn't. Outlines aren't how you make a cinematic universe. Making good movies and working backwards from that is how you do that. It's how Marvel did it. Marvel's outline was basically just doing four solo movies and if they do well then maybe we also make a crossover movie.

[@benwasserman8223]

Um not really. Remember when the DCEU started production Gunn was just out of projects like Super, Slither and (of all things) the Lollypop Chainsaw game. Sure people vaguely knew him from writing Scooby-Doo and Dawn of the Dead. But few looked at him like a savior filmmaker back then.

[@CaptainPikeachu]

@@Carabas72 but marvel still had a roadmap, Gunn’s roadmap for DC doesn’t have to be some strict immovable thing, but they do need an outline of where they want things to be as the basics of how to start or which movie to start with

[@Carabas72]

@@CaptainPikeachu The DCEU had a superdetailed roadmap that they ended up scrapping because almost all of their movies failed. The Dark Universe had a big roadmap. Roadmaps are easy. And you can still make them after you have your first succesful movie. Marvel's roadmap was no more detailed than "let's make 4 completely seperate movies with only SHIELD and maybe a cameo here and there connecting them very losely".

[@rileybecerril7554]

@@Carabas72 the problem with marvel is that they make the same movie over and over with just a different character these characters have so much more than basic stuff and they don’t know how to use those comic stories

[@AqueleRod]

"75 miles away" - When they didn't show the father's face in the opening, everybody knew what was going on... so predictably! 😂😂😂

[@NobleLuke]

So basically, the Rock refused to put Shazam over. That's never good for business and he should know.

[@risunamashaba2060]

I was always on The rock's side during the whole fast and furious drama, but I recent times I've realized that the rock only plays for himself You can't have that in a connected universe

[@benwasserman8223]

Idk if it’s the final blow more than David Zaslav was. Black Adam just happened to be either too overhyped or badly timed in the DC overhaul.

[@nosipho3599]

I know they were kinda cheesy but I actually enjoyed the Justice Society in Black Adam 🙈 I thought they had good chemistry for the 4 seconds of screen time they got.

[@BonzerMrT]

They were literally in half the film. What do you mean 4 seconds?

[@oldenough5424]

@@BonzerMrT hawkman and fate were prominent at least, but atom smasher and that other girl whose name i cant even remember probably had like 20 lines each lmao

[@giesejacob]

Unpopular opinion: while Dwayne Johnson seems like a fun guy off camera, he’s not a good actor, and most of his movies suck. On top of that, always having to win is so egotistical and kind of pathetic

[@TheNobleFive]

That's not unpopular lol.

[@giesejacob]

@@TheNobleFive but it’s not exactly super common because so many people like him as a person I feel like they overlook the fact that he’s an average actor at best

[@JamesHowlett-qy3yq]

He is a pretty good actor and his movies are enjoyable. He is also very charismatic

[@motherplayer]

Best part of the film was seeing what the power of Shazam is like in the hands of someone both more experienced and unafraid to kill. It's an absolutely terrifying experience when remembering how last time we saw it, it was in the hands of a kid who used it more for parlor tricks.

[@moondawwg]

Terrifying? Sure buddy, sure.

[@ScootyPuffJrSux]

I had to call the usher in because I shit my pants when Black Adam beat up those nameless bad guys

[@AwakeNotWokeBruh]

One of the only movies I walked out laughing…before it ended lol

[@tmcttf8087]

Lol.....

[@VeritabIlIti]

Wait, a superhero film starring a no superhero failed because the Rock got too big for his britches? Big shocker there

[@MrChupacabra555]

I think, with this movie, Dwayne has experienced his first "Will Smith in 'Wild Wild West" moment 😅 By this I mean that until this point in their careers, neither actor (or the people who supported them) thought that anything they appeared in would be nothing but a Huge Hit, and then the movie is released to poor ticket sales. That being said, I enjoyed the movie, and wouldn't mind seeing a sequel (with the promised but not never to happen Cavill Superman vs Black Adam).

[@Bingo_the_Pug]

Having Superman fight Black Adam makes no sense. That’s like Cyborg going up against Brainiac.

[@0127sasuke]

Actually, captain marvel's main villain was always Dr sivanna (although the movie version of sivanna was clearly modelled after Adam) Fawcetts version of black Adam was a one shot villain of the week. Otherwise the most recurring villain for captain marvel was sivanna. It wasn't until DC started using them that Adam was elevated to main villain status, and that didn't even last a year because DC started to flesh him out not long after, making him an anti hero by the mid 90s Imo the movie was mostly accurate to who black Adam is. It just had bad dialogue. And I gotta admit, Adam had to much "the rock" in him. I agree the rocks ego was the biggest problem. He was to much "hero" not enough "anti" I would've liked if Adam was allowed to be in Shazam. He could've challenged Billy's morals. Tho it would still need a main villain regardless, because black Adam really isn't one. He's the punisher with super powers

[@VoiceNerd]

I would argue he's more of DC's answer to Marvel's Dr. Doom

[@nicholassheffo5723]

Thank you! Then Adam was changed from all bad to a little good, which has all kinds of issues, but this started in the comics apparently.

[@0127sasuke]

@@VoiceNerd Dr dooms a good comparison, since they're both benevolent "dictators" (a fact about Doom I'm actually surprised by, but idk enough about him and his personality to argue) But he has punisher moments I feel. Like when he's with the JSA (the arc that the movie was based on). His whole thing is his family was enslaved and killed in ancient kandaq and so he feels like killing his oppressors and anyone like them is the right thing to do. That always screamed punisher to me, just switch out the oppressors for just crime in general

[@leafyishereisdumbnameakath4259]

Never knew Sivana was the main villain but makes sense. Mister mind was probably a big one too in that era. With the classic shazam art style. After that Adam must've become the main one

[@tvirus9369]

The first shazam movie was great reminds me when I was small and wanted to be a super hero

[@JCasR3]

I think Black Adam could have used the writing of Peacemaker. Yes, they had a tragic backstory and made villainous choices… but they grew to understand, regret, and heal.

[@unknown-iy2we]

you mean james gunn

[@herloss448]

its like gunn is the only guy who can make us love this obscure characters and i agree

[@MC-Clap-Yo-Hands]

Yes but see the difference Cena was the most popular of the stars on the suicide squad but it wasnt about him, and he had no problem playing the bad guy and not being the main focus. Luckily for him he did a great and James Gunn decided to give him a show.

[@Doriya678]

​@@MC-Clap-Yo-Handsalso peacemaker and suicide squad is the only sucess in dceu in this year

[@jonnyleeconway]

Agreed with this up until you said Gunn and Safran won’t be putting money behind characters that aren’t all well known, Gunn has a history of taking unknown, weird, characters and giving them their own project/thriving them into beloved characters. GOTG for example, most of the characters from TSS, peacemaker. Black Adam didn’t “kill the DCEU” it came out a time where the DCEU was changing hands, I think Shazam, aqua man, blue beetle, the flash will probably all be a part of the new DCU, especially Aquaman and Shazam, Aquaman because Jason can play two characters if one is mostly cgi/ heavily made up and because Aquaman is the most successful of all the DCEU movies, it would be dumb to recast your most successful character, and Shazam because he’s kinda weird and James Gunn loves ts

[@Ranger1812]

What's "ts"?

[@michaelcastillo619]

@@Ranger1812do you mean TSS If yes, then it’s just a short for The Suicide Squad

[@Ranger1812]

@@michaelcastillo619 It's the last word in his comment.

[@FilmSpook]

Jonny, your "hero" Gunn also has a history of "joking" inappropriately about little boys and girls. But it's okay to you dumb comic book fans who care more about your fantasy stories than innocent children being protected from predators like Gunn. You wouldn't be defending him if he were a Catholic priest that made those same exact "jokes," you dummy.

[@creed8712]

Hell the MCU was built on characters that were teamed up because they couldn’t sell comics.

[@josephkitchens1644]

I’d like to see more of black Adam in a better written and directed film. And while the film disappointed it’s US box office was actually decent considering reviews and black Panther being close by

[@Mr69akagetthebag]

Dwayne Johnson’s ego killed his plans for the DCEU’s future. He definitely wanted to be the Kevin Feige of DC.

[@mcurran6505]

"HA!" - Edna Krabappel.

[@LuisSierra42]

@@mcurran6505 "HAW HAW!" Nelson Muntz

[@TrueScifi]

Actually he wanted to be both Kevin Feige and Robert Downey Jr. of DC. Be incharge behind the scenes and in front as well.

[@thewayofthebeard3680]

“Mmmmh” - Marge Simpson

[@dupehotterthansoup]

@@thewayofthebeard3680 "hey, hey" - Krusty the Clown

[@EvanSaltare]

I'm still waiting for them to treat Kryptonians like Saiyans. Say what you will about Man of Steel but those fights near the finale of the film, especially with Faora, made me wish for either a proper DBZ live action movie or that DC would just make movies with more fights like that.

[@oldenough5424]

My favorite part of the movie was when adam successfully overpowered fucking armed guards in his normal human form. I mentally checked out after that lmao

[@FragBoyStewie]

I still find it hard to believe that The Rock is as big as he is. Not to take anything away from his hustle and hard working nature, but dang man! The dude can't act for s**t!

[@michaelroberts4748]

Watching this film felt exhausting, the writing was horrible and never did I think "that was good". The film kept trying different stuff which didn't flow proper imo, from the constant inclusions of playing a popular song to the shootout. The child actor, hate to say it, has the worst acting and scenes I've seen. His lines are either bad to begin or they're poorly re-recorded and it sounds so obvious. I laughed twice at moments I wasn't supposed to because the timing or writing was so stupid. The Rock wanted Black Adam to be so strong and powerful that he has no emotion or reaction to literally ANYTHING happening to him, it's so uncompelling. That and along with the fact the Rock believes himself to be better than a Shazam character does almost everything to avoid using Shazam content for the dude whose literally EVIL SHAZAM. When the final fight is within the final 30 minutes you know it's bad, and it's so bad. The only good part of this film was Dr Fate, Hawkman was neat, but kept doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. But Dr Fate was cool, good design, well acted, his magic looked good and his moves where neat. Atom Smasher wasn't bad either.

[@DanielSlva]

Dr Fate did so well because Pierce Brosnan can actually act.

[@daimonatkins3046]

7:07 I missed the part where Iron Man held Thor’s hammer in Thor Ragnarok

[@TheRoomforImprovement]

As a fan of the DCEU, even I can acknowledge that they needed a clear plan of action. Something that was missing these past few years.

[@MChedderbeef]

Black Adam was just at The Rock going “guys look how fkn COOL I am!”

[@loquez_133dg5]

I actually enjoyed the movie didn't really see the twist coming actually personally would've been happy if we got to see more

[@selfiekroos1777]

Wasnt bad. The china non release held it back from 500m.

[@hittingyouoverthehead]

I thought the twist was spoiled in the trailer.

[@loquez_133dg5]

@@hittingyouoverthehead didn't watch the trailer much

[@Soundwave1900]

@@hittingyouoverthehead i watched the trailer after the movie and yeah, it was spoiled there. And for me personally the twist was great and made me look at the whole first half of the movie from a different angle.

[@AverageDrafter]

I have long been saying that everything happening between DC and Marvel right now happened in the comics, just on a much smaller scale. For example, this is basically the DC Implosion all over again.

[@jpnelson7791]

Absolutely!

[@William-the-Guy]

A Batman Beyond with Michael Keaton sounds amazing...

[@Dante9345]

Nice to hear someone say The Rock had a big piece to do with this

[@EMBEEAY]

Literally the Flash, Batman, and SUPERMAN are gone, of course it’s dead. DCEU was destined to fail from the start trying to be something they aren’t.

[@umano957]

Black Adam felt like a B-movie with an A-movie budget

[@shenanitims4006]

“Check out our video on why there are two Captain Marvels.” There aren’t. (Or at least I don’t think there are anymore.) He was the original, until he became Shazam! Marvel bought the name, made a character who will never cease publication (to protect the name), and that’s how it stands.

[@navbuoy]

A few problems with this vid. A dark mirror villain is not always the arch-nemesis. Batman, Superman and Spiderman all have a deep rogues gallery. Thor and Iron Man were not top tier characters for Marvel but they did have successful launches. Black Adam is arguably Captain Marvel's Arch-nemesis but Dr Sivana (Silvana) truly is the primary antagonist. Now, a standalone Black Adam movie would have been fine - it should have been a prequel to Shazam (taking place in ancient Egypt hell even mention the wizard Shazam as the Champion before that) with it ultimately leading to Black Adam's exile into deep space and having his return and showdown with Shazam (god I hate calling him that - it's Captain Marvel) being the sequel.

[@sneakykamon]

I gotta admit, I really like the idea of Black Adam being a prequel story set in ancient Egypt - well Kahndaq - instead of what we actually got.

[@thiagoteixeira6537]

I'm very excited for James Gunn's DCEU!

[@concept5631]

It does sound promising.

[@LDrumsOhio]

Man of Steel and Wonder Woman did what they were supposed to do in building a universe. I think Batman V Superman was the misstep, that was on the road to being recovered until the director Zack Snyder's daughter passed away and he left the project. The fact the studio brought in Whedon who had a totally different tone to complete Justice League was the final letdown.

[@TheMovieAndCartoonFan]

I blame James Gunn for ruining everything after firing Cavill's Superman, making that Post-Credit scene completely pointless.

[@SourRobo8364]

I enjoyed Black significantly more than Disney Marvel's recent output.

[@Reurbo]

Basically DCEU sounds like it's finally realized their plan for movies up until now for their characters hasn't worked as well as they hoped and are looking to do a complete reset on the entire thing. What comes next looks like they finally plan a DCU movie release modeled more like what Marvel did... individual movies to build characters, their stories and struggles, and connect the audience to the character before bringing multiple superhero's together in a single movie to something bigger needing them all to work together. I am disappointed Batman Beyond got dropped, but DC has needed this change for a long time now. I won't say all the DC movies have been bad, there are some great ones, but ultimately they've been lacking and banking on fans to gush and be hyped over a character just because they show up in the movie.

[@JenSpinsSGP]

I always felt like the dceu tried to grow too quickly too early. They went from a universe introduction film instantly into Batman v Superman which was more of a civil war story but less characters. Then they did suicide squad which was fine but felt more like a solo movie then a connected one. Movies like aqua man shazam and Wonder Woman were great but by that point the universe already felt like a confused jumbled mess to me. Dc wanted to have an mcu without copying it but at the end of the day they made more of a connected universe with barely any connection.

[@JenSpinsSGP]

Imo the dceu should have been more along the lines of man of steel, maybe man of steel 2, Batman movie, since the origin is played out maybe play with the grizzled Batman idea more show him loosing his edge and maybe Tim drake comes in as robin to help Batman become who he once was, if they wanted to do Batman v Superman after this I don’t think it would be as big of an issue since you have both characters setup in this universe. After or before this you can have Wonder Woman and aqua man then a justice league movie. This allows them to have more time to play around with character dynamics while still having other characters like cyborg and flash being introduced in other movies and eventually phase two can flesh them out with their own movies. By this point the main team is established so suicide squad would feel more in place with this universe, maybe the villain from Batman’s movie can be in here, if they didn’t kill zod put him in here too. My point is the dceu tried to instantly jump into phase 2 or 3 of its universe. I’m sure there a cleaner ways to make this universe but if you are going to go with a movie universe structure based on the dceu I think this would have been better. Hopefully the new universe will feel a lot better since it’s being planned more carefully

[@keinplan3056]

The hype for this movie lasted for one week 💀

[@Willz828]

Henry cavill never getting a man of steel two: them going right to batman v superman will never not hurt me

[@pdzombie1906]

The legacy of Snyder's DCEU is so terrible, the guy they get to save every franchise, actually ended up putting the final nail on its coffin.... Sad!

[@cttommy73]

The thing with The Rock is we've seen everything from him. He not only plays the exact same character all the time, he has been over exposed with how many movies star The Rock. People are sick and tired of seeing him. You would think he would learn his lessons after the "Die Rocky, Die" chants he got when he started out his career in wrestling. But see, he is now so famous and rich, he forgot that and just refuse to change, and now has become the John Cena of cinema where people are just bored of him and can see he is not the superhero he tries and portray himself, again, just like John Cena.

[@delix787]

The dialogue was straight up, horrible. 😭

[@jpnelson7791]

I collected comics for 30 years (from mid-60's into early 90's when Jim Shooter ruined Marvel) ... and one thing I learned from then, that carries into the movies ... Marvel characters had feelings, weaknesses, were three dimensional, and were portrayed as real people who just happened to have powers. DC, always in the comics, and clearly in the movies, have ALWAYS been almost god-like who just happen to be in human form, grossly TWO dimensional, with no substance what-so-ever. In the comics Superman once fought, and whipped, the angel, Gabriel; he has pushed the earth from one point of orbit into another: and time travels to fix things as he wishes as if he is walking from one room to the next; and in a Marvel/DC cross-over comic, Batman defeated the Hulk by simply performing a drop-kick into the Hulk's solar plexus. I knew the DCEU would flop back in the beginning. The only stories worth watching, in my opinion, were the Michael Keaton's two Batman movies, the first two Dark Night movies, the first two Reeves Superman movies, and I really enjoyed the Superman Returns film (it had real heart). Nuff Said ...

[@josephmonasky9495]

But what about The Dark Knight trilogy? Those made Batman relatable and realistic?

[@josef.ramoss.8457]

No susbtance 🤣🤣🤣 have you ever read all star superman, mr miracle, swamp thing Alan moore?

[@WSendam]

Dceu made me realize I like dc a lot just for Batman and wished he was in better material and I just want Batman to be separate from connected universes

[@VeritabIlIti]

Luckily, it looks like that might be what happens moving forward. Apparently the newer Batman direction will continue on the side separate from DCEU

[@sb-productions]

The Rock become a real life villain trying to avoid being a villain on screen 😂

[@ChronicleComicArt]

It’s amazing that a film can be in development for soooooooo long and still be such a turd.

[@_AZBT_ASHUTOSHKUSHWAHA]

Rock was packing up muscles for the role and fcking around a good source material of black adam vs shazam. So you know only one thing went according to him.. Him being this massive at his middle age is just money not nutrition

[@askmeaboutmattweiner]

The lesson is just watch the animated DC universe

[@stadnikds]

I really liked only two things there: backstory plot twist and hawkmans costume design. Before that I thought that "classic" hawkman suit is impossible to make look good in film.

[@deanthomas2961]

If the Rock wanted to be in a movie where he has superpowers, he should've just hired a screenwriter to make him his own answer to Hancock. Instead he altered the character of Black Adam and turned him into a one-dimensional video game character because the Rock is too scared to play a heel or get his ass kicked on film

[@N13J]

Hey, at least it get The Rock out of that jungle adventurer role. That’s some achievement right there!

[@He11Jumper]

i love that this video comes up as the 3rd result if you type in "the hierarchy of power in the DC universe is about to change".

[@lioneart19]

It's incredible how in the same year DC failed to build an interesting antihero with this movie while Marvel did it perfectly with Namor.

[@Thatonequitekid2]

And Venom

[@jayrathod2995]

DCEU has been such a bad bad mess, 5+ different batmans, 5+ different Superman, pointless Aquaman and wonder woman sequels, no proper connection in between any movies to set up the next film's hype, it's all their fault

[@paweld]

I had a ton of fun watching black adam. Yea the pacing was rushed, but still, fun. That makes it a better movie than most others that have come out recently.

[@VioStarclad]

Batman Beyond film cancelled??? I've been waiting for one for years!

[@garrettp7003]

It's refreshing to finally see people highlight these issues with Johnson. At the end of the day, and the video covers it well, these types of films always fall flat. No one has ever wanted this movie that actually knows more than seeing a commercial for it. Johnson being everywhere for the last few years definitely hurt more than it helped. Dwayne Johnson stars in cheap popcorn trite. He doesn't really act. It's the same type of role over and over. Usually a quip happy, laughably large, dude that men cower at and women want. Basically he sees himself as every MCU hero. He's a boring actor that takes increasingly boring roles as time goes on. Say what you will about Bautista, but at least he's changing up his roles more and more.

[@wibblesmcscribbles3018]

Bruh Batman v superman was the death blow

[@Rs3mocha]

I just read a comic where black Adam tried to save his city from ultra man(alternate evil version of superman) and after black Adam zapped him, super man grabbed him face and broke his mouth then threw him in the ocean... Maybe Dwayne needs to read some source material... he's a bad guy..a powerful one... but supposed to lose...

[@shawnwilcowski]

People can still appreciate a villain role especially from someone like Rock who is ALWAYS the hero showing people your acting abilities and fun side

[@SonicHedgehog1991]

It's pretty clear that Johnson wants to be Superman but knows that he'll never be cast as Superman due to *obvious reasons* so he makes every role he ever played to be essentially Superman without being Superman. This also explains his obsession with fighting Superman instead of Captain Marvel.

[@simbaking6338]

I thought we all learnt of his big ego since booted out of the Fast & Furious franchise & went & try did his own....that's the Rock for you.

[@myBquest]

Funny that I don't see him as one of the "biggest movie stars". He's one of the most famous yes, but Dwayne has the acting range of a literal rock. I'm glad they are ending his paranoia, or at least it looks like they are trying to do that. Safran saved us from Batgirl and apparently called off Wonder Woman 3 as he realized how hated the second movie was and, given the losses of the last projects of DC, could perform even worse. I hope he makes everyone see that the route they were looking for as direct rivals of Marvel was going to completely sink them, movie producers and companies are already taking their bills to streaming platforms. They need to find another plan, a strategy over new characters that could work with the remaining ones, and STOP GIVING PSEUDO-ACTORS SO MUCH POWER OVER THE PROJECTS.

[@sarahjane9644]

I feel like they should've casted someone else to play Black Adam. All I see is The Rock playing The Rock and that's it. The movie was okay, but it didn't really grab you like most origin or solo hero stories do. I was more interested in Dr. Fate, but even then it didn't really make up for the rest of the film.

[@mdpeterson27]

Interesting take. You mentioned Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr’s cameos helping launch the Universe. But we hardly ever talk about Man of Steel. Since that was the first movie. We have to talk about what I’m some peoples eyes a a failure. At least the studio felt it was a failure because they gave up on the franchise and immediately pivoted to a Batman VS Superman sequel. They gave up on their on launch movie with a sequel starring DC’s biggest hero in Batman

[@jonathancampbell5231]

A Magneto movie would be great. A Black Adam movie could have been great too. The issue isn't so much that you can't do a villain movie; it's that Dwayne reimagined Black Adam as "not a villain in the first place" so he could play a superhero, and also that he felt the superhero he was playing should be as big as Superman...because Dwayne Johnson was playing him. A Black Adam movie could have worked...it just would have worked better without Dwayne Johnson, if he's become such an egomaniac that he literally wants to hijack an entire franchise and re-centre it on himself.

[@Bullboy_Adventures]

I still don't understand how this movie is bad. I genuinely enjoyed it

[@CesarManiaX]

Here’s what they should’ve done. First, they should’ve made a Hawkman movie, an Atom Smasher movie, Cyclone Movie and also Doctor Fate movie to introduce the characters in the DCEU. Afterwards, they should’ve made a Justice Society of America movie. Then they should’ve made Black Adam afterwards. After that, black Adam could’ve made a cameo appearance in Shazam 2 which would’ve set up a Shazam vs Black Adam movie.

[@pennywisethedancingclown2246]

Shoulda woulda coulda! Honestly they made a lot of mistakes with the DCEU from the get go, they really rushed everything. What they needed to do was take their time with the principle heroes *then* make the team up movies

[@itscarlitosway696]

It could’ve worked with the Rock being a central character. If done right it could’ve been great. In the comics Black Adam gave his powers to the dc heroes to fight a major threat

[@ILLRICARDO]

The hierarchy of power did change when black Adam was released.

[@ShayminPunk64]

I actually really enjoyed Black Adam. But it was never going to do anything but hurt this cinematic universe

[@rikflag6]

I just don’t understand the appeal of the Rock. As an actor he as about as one-note as it gets and then there is his ego… Whenever you hear behind-the-scenes stuff from movies with him, he seems to make demands like a kid in elementary school. His characters always have to be the „coolest“ and have to be the focus of every scene. As if he were Homer Simpson with his suggestions to „improve“ Poochie. And then there is the action in his movies. How is there supposed to be any tention or investment, if the protagonist is always completely invinicible and no one is posing any threat to him in any way. Just because Johnson can’t let himself be seen as vulnerable for one second, as if he were allegic to his characters having any depth.

[@abrahammoya6913]

I actually liked it. It was fun, it tried to explore its character and put some importance on the people of Khandaq. Superhero movies barely do any of those things

[@oldenough5424]

unfortunately not enough importance for them to call out adam and the justice society for pretty much wrecking half the damn city lol

[@denniswaweru9340]

James Gunn definitely made the right decision by deciding to scarp all the rubbish projects that were just dragging DC back for so many years

[@invisiblejaguar1]

I assume the 3 remaining DCEU movies will be released and I do hope so. They've gone through the trouble of making them before this end was announced and I feel like this universe has had some hitters. I love Peacemaker for one and I'm excited to see one more sequel for Shazam and Aquaman.

[@hudsonyoung8465]

Seeing that Iron Man edit in Thor 3 made me gasp out loud rethinking everything LOL

[@ferramirez4570]

I have only follow 2 superhero movies: Batman and X men, besides that I never cared over MCU or DC but I must say I actually enjoyed Black Adam.

[@Zyrdalf]

Those are some good ones.

[@Nightman221k]

The DCEU had an amazing proof of concept with their animated content but instead they bumble around making stupid choices. It should be so easy since they have shows that are a good blueprint.

[@MisterBrickalew]

Blaming The Rock for the death of the DCEU is also kinda bloating his ego too much. He wasn't the only bad decision made. Each movie had its own part in the demise. They never got villains right, even with great actors. Considering the Batman trilogy was their last major project before the DCEU, this is a major mis-step.

[@johnrazvaliaeff]

I actually really liked this movie and have seen it a bunch of times.

[@seantheimp]

Yeah, Marvel perfected this formula over a decade ago. DC keeps wanting to skip to their "Avengers" and Black Adam was another attempt to do that. They _have_ proven they can make good movies. Wonder Woman(NOT 1984), Aquaman, Shazam, and The Suicide Squad are all tight, character-driven superhero stories. Hopefully Gunn gets this right and just makes _good movies first._ I don't give a crap about "DC vs Marvel" or any of that, I just wanna see them make stories about these beloved characters and do them justice.

[@marymiranda2687]

I still can't believe that we don't get a Wonderwoman 3 and Man of Steel 2 but we might still be getting The Flash with Ezra Miller and Aquaman 2 with Amber Turd. If James and Peter are cleaning house, they should cancel those two movies or if not, make it a direct to DVD release or something.

[@dominiquemason1228]

DCEU is not death it's DC Reboot is death

[@NUCLEARDASH]

They would never let him cancel these movies, dude. Lots of money already on the road