Meet the Villains of ‘Black Adam’

Just when you thought you finally committed most of the names of the ever-growing Suicide Squad to memory, DC goes and casts a new crew of antiheroes in “Black Adam,” its latest bid for box office domination.

eet the Equity Society of America (JSA), a group of superheroes who need to pack down, or possibly better control, the nominal wannabe Dark Adam. You will not recall these people from films past (save for one appearance by Dwayne “The Stone” Johnson), however they’ve been funny book stalwarts for a really long time.

Before you see “Dark Adam,” look into the new cast of ethically uncertain supernatural people. From Specialist Destiny to Adam himself, here are the new faces you’ll meet in “Dark Adam.” (“Dark Adam” is appropriated by Warner Brothers., what offers parent organization Warner Brothers. Revelation

Black Adam

Played by: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

Black Adam is the morally ambiguous predecessor of Shazam, the gangly teen-turned-adult superhero. Adam was born centuries ago as “Teth-Adam,” a regular guy who becomes the “champion” of a wizard named Shazam, who instills in him the power of several gods, according to DC. Unlike Shazam the superhero (a different guy from the wizard – yes, it’s confusing), Teth-Adam did not use his newfound powers for good. He’s exiled by the wizard who gave him his powers and given a new name that matches his corrupted heart – Black Adam.

We meet Adam when he returns from a 5,000-year-long imprisonment. He’s set on liberating his homeland, a fictional North African country called Kahndaq, Johnson told the New York Times. But Wonder Woman, he is not – Adam “straight-up murders people” to forward his cause, said Empire Magazine in its three-star review of the film. He believes he’s the “right person to lead humanity,” says DC, and sometimes that means making choices that prioritize the good of the many over the lives of the few.

Doctor Fate

Nerd by day and sorcerer by night, Kent Nelson is a “kindly academic” who evolves into a formidable hero when he wears the golden “Helmet of Fate,” which is also imbued with godlike powers, says DC. In an interview with the AV Club, Brosnan explained that the helmet is both a “curse and a blessing” that the character lives with because his father, an archaeologist, discovered the artifact.

Doctor Fate helped found the Justice Society, a superhero supergroup that, in the film, is tasked with tamping down Black Adam’s antiheroic antics. Onscreen, Brosnan-as-Fate is the seasoned veteran of the JSA, keeping the newbs in line while taking on Adam – but he’s got secrets of his own, too, Brosnan teased.

Atom Smasher

Played by: Noah Centineo

Powers: Growing into a giant at will and then shrinking back

Don’t call him Ant-Man: This is Atom Smasher, a young JSA recruit whose powers you’ll certainly recognize – he’s a “mass manipulator,” meaning he can turn into a Godzilla-sized version of himself – but without the size-changing tech. Atom Smasher is a “metahuman,” like Cyclone, and the process of growing huge is a painful one, Centineo told Syfy: His muscles “break and then form,” and then break and re-form again when he returns to his standard size.

He’s also a bit of a “nepotism baby”: His grandfather, “forced into villainy,” Centineo said, was the first to receive the powers Atom Smasher inherited, so even though he lacks the experience of his fellow JSA members, he “comes from this pedigree” that makes him a confident, if arrogant, addition to the group.

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