10 Essential DC Villains Not Yet Used In The DCEU

3. Black Adam

Black Adam
DC Comics

He may be yet to appear in the DC Extended Universe, but those who’ve watched this year’s Shazam! were made familiar with the nefarious Black Adam’s origin through the storytelling of Djimon Hounsou’s Wizard.

When it comes to being brought to big-screen life, a Black Adam movie has been in development for nearly a decade by this point. For those keeping tabs, Dwayne Johnson has been long attached to play the character, both in a Shazam movie and in a solo outing for Black Adam. With Warners deciding against using the character in Shazam!, Adam is now geared up for a solo movie that is due to begin production next year.

Able to match and best hugely powerful heroes like Superman and Shazam, Black Adam has the sort of abilities that any hero or villain would dream of. Magic, flight, speed, invulnerability, and a big ol’ brain are just some of the skills afforded to this rogue.

The only real concern about the impending Black Adam movie, though, is that, with the ridiculously charming Dwayne Johnson on board to play the titular Teth-Adam, there may be the temptation to present Black Adam as more of an antihero – as has at times been a plot point used in the comics – rather than the thorough bastard he’s so often been most enjoyable as over the years.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.