Dwayne Johnson's vision for Black Adam as a big DCU player could lead to a comeback by Darkseid as the franchise's arch-villain. The world-building of Black Adam set up several DCU movies and got the ball rolling for Johnson's envisioned clash between the title character and Superman. Though Black Adam's strength and perspective on heroism shift the hierarchy of power in the franchise as Johnson long promised, his big-screen debut also obliquely presages Darkseid to return as the DCU's most feared villain.
Among the many alterations made in Justice League's theatrical cut was the complete removal of Darkseid. the Justice Society of America and setting the stage for Superman's rumble with Black Adam, it nonetheless puts a number of pieces on the table to make Darkseid's return to the franchise all but an inevitability.
The Rock's Black Adam Versus Superman Plans Explained
Dwayne Johnson's goal of establishing Black Adam as the metahuman rival and ideological opponent of Superman finally had its first brick laid in the end-credits scene of his eponymous movie. After Black Adam is warned by Amanda Waller that he will face severe consequences should he leave Kahndaq, Superman arrives and suggests to the antihero, "We should talk." While the scene is less than a minute in length, it already reveals a lot about the nature of Superman's return with its reference to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and where Johnson wants to take Black Adam in the DCU. In the case of the latter, that starts with the stakes being raised once Black Adam inevitably disregards Waller and Superman's warnings.
Johnson wants to bring Superman and Black Adam together in a mano-a-mano battle, but the actor also stressed that this will not be immediate. As Henry Cavill's re-established Superman being a key member of the Justice League could also suggest Johnson seeing the League's revitalization in the DCU as a necessary component of those plans. Still, with Black Adam as a more pitiless counterpart to Superman rather than an outright antagonist, this is where the return of Darkseid starts to enter the conversation.
The DCU Will Need Darkseid Sooner Or Later
The restoration of Darkseid in Justice League's Snyder Cut established him as the merciless, multiversal conqueror he is while still primarily having him primarily commanding Steppenwolf from Apokolips in order to build him up as the villain of Justice League 2. Though Warner Bros.' then-leadership dubbed the Snyder Cut "a storytelling cul-de-sac," Darkseid's debut in the movie argued for the opposite. Darkseid is the epitome of evil among DC villains and one of the most powerful beings in existence. The power Darkseid wields against the Justice League, in addition to his long-awaited cinematic debut finally happening in the Snyder Cut, makes leaving him on the sidelines as unsustainable a prospect as the absence of Superman from the DCU. As with Cavill's Superman revival in the Snyder Cut, Darkseid's arrival is another bell that cannot be unrung.
Meanwhile, Dwayne Johnson's positioning of Black Adam as the only being on Earth capable of holding his own against Superman sets him up as the ultimate challenge for the Man of Steel, the Justice League, and the Justice Society. While that opens many exciting storytelling possibilities for how Black Adam and Superman oppose one another, they would also come with a ceiling if Black Adam were to be the DCU's big bad. Black Adam's antihero leanings obviously prevent that from being the case. Furthermore, with the Superman-like magnitude of Black Adam's powers, having him as the arch-villain of the DCU would leave the franchise with very limited options after his defeat, leading right back to the DCU's arch-villain problem. Only an evildoer of cosmically threatening proportions could truly top the epic stakes that Johnson is aiming for in pitting Black Adam against Superman, and this is a role that Darkseid is most qualified to fill. As for how it could happen, it could lead to an intriguing remolding of where the DCEU was originally headed.
How The Rock's Black Adam Plans Could Lead To Darkseid's Return
While Darkseid is not referenced in Black Adam, the presence of Intergang as the occupiers of Kahndaq is an allusion to him, Intergang being supplied with Apokoliptian weaponry in the comics. This is one of the more direct avenues Black Adam establishes for Darkseid's return, with Intergang potentially gaining weapons from Apokolips in the future — or secretly already having them. On the flip side, the tease of another DCU hero's return in Amanda Waller's warning to Black Adam also alludes to the Snyder Cut being progressively canonized in the franchise. Darkseid's role in Zack Snyder's Justice League being his only DCU appearance to date would effectively solidify this in the event of his return, and bring the Knightmare future and the League's final showdown with him back to the table as real possibilities. With Darkseid a looming menace again, Dwayne Johnson's plans could potentially lead to a hybridizing of his Black Adam roap with Snyder's outline for the Justice League sequels.
Given Snyder's present Netflix commitments and the unique situation of the Snyder Cut's release in the first place, any revival of his intended Justice League sequel plans would require some level of adjusting — even Snyder says his Justice League sequel whiteboards are not fully up to date to how they would theoretically be made. Johnson's vision for Black Adam's fight with Superman could facilitate that. As a staunch opponent of injustice and oppression, Black Adam would doubtlessly view Darkseid's quest to strip all free will from the multiverse with the Anti-Life Equation as something he must oppose. The Knightmare timeline and the League's stand against Darkseid could well have Black Adam integrated into both, going from foe to friend of Superman and the Justice League to stand against Darkseid, with the Justice Society and other heroes introduced in Johnson's plan worked into it.
Superman's extended absence from the DCU is something Johnson spent years battling to undo. With Black Adam finally accomplishing that goal, Henry Cavill's Superman comeback has opened a world of new possibilities once thought impossible for the DCU, such as Ben Affleck seemingly inching towards a Batman comeback. At the same time, Johnson has envisioned the Black Adam-Superman rivalry as a pro-wrestling style conflict with Black Adam being Superman's philosophical opposite without being a true villain. In everything from the introduction of Intergang to the positioning of Black Adam as a formidable but non-evil force only Superman can stop, Johnson has also quietly set up the return of the DCU's greatest villain. Whatever plans are to unfold after everything Black Adam has set up, all roads eventually lead back to Darkseid.
