Spoiler Warning: Spoilers Ahead for Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Considering the shared history of Black Adam and Shazam in DC Comics, you would assume there would have been a connection between the movies in the DCEU. However, it seems that even before the curtain fell on the old WBD franchise, there was very little love between Dwayne Johnson’s movie and Shazam! Fury of the Gods. This has been made apparent once again thanks to the single mention of last year’s Black Adam in the new Zachary Levi-led movie, not actually mentioning Black Adam.
When Dwayne Johnson made his debut as Black Adam, he made it seem pretty clear that it was the start of something huge that would build the foundation of the new stages of the DCEU and ultimately lead to big crossovers with Superman and Shazam. However, it took very little time for that plan to fall apart in the most spectacular fashion, but by that time, Shazam! Fury of the Gods was already in the can, so it would not have been unexpected to see Johnson’s character mentioned in some capacity.
In the mid-credits scene of Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Shazam is met by Emilia Harcourt and John Economos, played by Jennifer Holland and Steve Agee, respectively. While this could set up a Black Adam connection, with Harcourt appearing in that movie and her message to Shazam being a relay from the franchise-straddling Amanda Waller, the only link it has is that the meeting is to induct Shazam alongside the Justice Society members. There is no mention given of the character of Black Adam at all.
Was Black Adam Ever the Contender He Was Made Out to Be?
Although the old DCEU is coming to an end, it would have been expected that the character of Black Adam would have been given a name-drop somewhere in the Shazam sequel. The lack of that makes it clear that any chances of Black Adam and Shazam meeting in any capacity was probably never on the cards.
With the two characters being intricately linked in the comic books, the idea of the two characters being purposely kept apart on screen seems to be another dubious decision by the old regime. Whether there was ever any more likelihood of Shazam and Black Adam crossing over than there was with Henry Cavill’s Superman returning on a long-term basis seems more and more like an idea that was never seriously being considered despite the rumors and Dwayne Johnson’s belief that he could rewrite the DCEU with him at the center of it.
Now, the future of the new DCU seems to have made it clear that Black Adam is not likely to be appearing again in any meaningful role, if at all, but for Shazam, the continuation of the character seems to be very up in the air. Ultimately, it would be hard not to push a third Shazam movie forward if Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a huge box office success, but it would probably need to be spectacularly huge, and that doesn’t seem very likely, given the movie’s middling opening.