If Johnson had gotten the Superman vs. Black Adam brawl he wanted, I’m pretty sure Black Adam would’ve won. (Again, it’s not the characters’ actual strength that decides how these fights go.) Johnson reportedly has a clause in his acting contracts that says he can never lose a fight onscreen. The chance to fight Superman, and boast about beating him, seems to be a big part of what drew him to playing Black Adam in the first place. However, before the plans for the Black Adam Cinematic Universe were washed away, Johnson reportedly pitched a years-spanning saga pitting Superman and Black Adam against each other. It seems Johnson’s vision wasn’t just one fight, but a repeated battle between two mortal-born Gods with different outlooks on how to protect the world.
Writing about Geoff Johns’ Black Adam’s 21st century revamp at Comic Book Herald, Ritesh Babu observed that Geoff Johns, too, sees Black Adam as a Superman foil. “Black Adam is the answer to ‘What if the Superman archetype used his power to rule?'” Babu writes. “To Geoff Johns, Black Adam is not a Shazam! villain. He is so much more. He is a figure of great grandeur, majesty and scope that enhances and enriches the DC Universe.”
In Johns and Gary Frank’s misguided “Watchmen” sequel “Doomsday Clock,” Black Adam leads a global superhuman revolution. Superman, not Captain Marvel, is the figure that stands in his way. Indeed, Johnson’s “Black Adam” movie pulls mostly from Johns’ comics. The Justice Society of America feature in the movie because Johns first started writing Black Adam while penning the ongoing “JSA” comic. During the New 52 DC Comics reboot, Johns rewrote Black Adam’s origin: it was actually Teth-Adam’s nephew chosen as the Wizard’s champion, but Adam stole the power to crush their former oppressors. The movie, too, uses a backstory closer to this than Otto Binder’s original.
Even putting aside Johns’ stories, Superman and Black Adam have crossed paths (and fought) several times. The earliest Superman and Captain Marvel crossovers, “All-New Collectors’ Edition” #C-58 and “DC Comics Presents” #49, feature Black Adam too. The cover of the latter (drawn by Dick Giordano and Rich Buckler) features the two heroes flying towards Black Adam, who stands tall and dares them to challenge him.
In 2005’s “Action Comics” #831 (written by Gail Simone, drawn by John Byrne), Superman and Black Adam fight one-on-one. Superman is winning, until Black Adam turns his back to a charging Superman; he knows an honorable hero wouldn’t punch him from behind.
Conversely, in Johns and David Finch’s 2013 crossover “Forever Evil,” Black Adam fights Ultraman, the evil Superman from Earth-3. Adam makes Ultraman bleed, but he shrugs off the lightning blast and crushes Adam’s jaw to prevent him saying “Shazam!” again. If Superman was willing to be lethal, Black Adam would fall. “Injustice: Gods Among Us” features a similar outcome when an evil Superman snaps and kills the Shazam of his universe. Kryptonian strength still trumps Shazam and Black Adam’s magical invulnerability.
