Few doubts remain today that, in the middle of 2022 and with the machinery of superhero cinema at full capacity linking projects for the big and small screen indiscriminately, there is a good number of viewers who, on many occasions, they go to their main movie theater with more interest in the post-credits scene that closes the screening than by the feature film that precedes it.
The case of ‘Black Adam’ has not been an exception, and in this specific case the interest has gone a lot beyond the simple curiosity to see an appetizer of what awaits us in the shared universe on duty. The rumors spread for months, the excessive hype and the leaks that ended up ruining the surprise – something usual lately – fueled the desire of a respectable person who needed to see the promise of an expected return materialized.
In case you still don’t know what I’m talking about and want to find out without having to go through the process of seeing ‘Black Adam’ —I’m telling you, in my humble opinion, you’re not missing much—, we’re going to explain what happens in the aforementioned post-credit scene and what this may mean for the future of a DC Universe —or what remains of it— disjointed and with a future as chaotic as it is uncertain.
- Beware, from here, there are spoilers at close range!
Back in black blue and red
During the promotional campaign for ‘Black Adam’, Dwayne Johnson actively and passively promised that the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe was about to change after the events of the film. Once the two hours of its footage have been explored, it is evident that the power of its protagonist seems to be far above the rest of the superheroes on the campus of the Distinguished Competition.
But for a broken one there is always a rip, and Teth-Adam’s last shoe could be an old acquaintance of the franchise that concerns you —in fact, it was the one that saw it born from the hand of Zack Snyder—. This is none other than Henry Cavill’s Superman, who makes an appearance once the main conflict of the film is resolved directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.
Once Black Adam has got rid of his enemy and restores order in Kahndaq, destroying the throne and remaining only as protector —and not king— of the country, in the post-credits scene we can see how Dwayne Johnson’s character maintains a pandemic-style Zoom conversation with Viola Davis’s Amanda Waller; who threatens him after the antihero escaped from his underwater prison.
The head of ARGUS informs Teth-Adam that he is under surveillance, and that she will release him as long as he does not leave the borders of Kahndaq, to which the protagonist replies confident that there is no one on the planet who can stop him. To this, Waller replies that there is someone who is not of this world who can help her in her mission.
It is at that moment when, out of the shadows, our beloved Kal-El emerges —this time we can see his head—, commenting in a conciliatory tone that “it has been a long time since anyone made the world so nervous” and intoning an intimidating and, still, like this, serene “we have to talk”, confirming the return of the last son of Krypton to the DC Universe that Henry Cavill celebrated again on his Instagram account with an image of the superhero stuffed in his new suit – which is beautiful, we are not going to deny it.
What does all this translate into and what does it imply for the future of the DC Films project? Frankly, as things stand, it only remains to speculate. The connections between the next titles of the saga, ‘Aquaman 2’, ‘Shazam 2’ and ‘The Flash’ are, a priori, weak enough to elaborate the feud between Superman and Black Adam in them, so it only remains to hold on to reports that a potential ‘Man of Steel 2’ is already in the works.
What is clear is that the duel between these two titans will not be reduced to a single battle. This was explained by Hiram García, producer of ‘Black Adam’, to the CinemaBlend medium.
“The thing has never been presented as a one-time or just one fight. No, it’s much more than that. We want to create a long narrative and show that these two characters exist in the same universe and that they are going to have We have to deal with each other regularly, either on the same side or on opposing sides. Hopefully, they will clash at some point, but it doesn’t come down to a one-fight situation. That was never our dream. It doesn’t reward the fans. The fans want to feel a journey between these guys knowing they exist in the same universe.”
We’ll see how it ends, but get Henry Cavill back It’s always a pleasure.