Black Adam, Dwayne Johnson’s magnum opus and apparent chosen one of the DC Extended Universe’s 2022 slate, was many things; a film, a decision, a disappointment, perhaps. Indeed, for all the backing Black Adam got from the DCEU’s marketing division, it just didn’t have its priorities straight enough to stick the landing it may have wanted.
That’s not to say, of course, that it shouldn’t be given credit where credit is due. The admittedly mishandled themes of colonialism still offered a quasi-interesting foundation, and even if Dwayne Johnson’s lack of range reared its head a bit too much, a fair portion of the supporting cast certainly shored up those holes.
Of course, this wouldn’t be a conversation about Black Adam‘s strong supporting characters without immediately bringing up Pierce Brosnan’s Doctor Fate, the much-agreed-upon high point in the film that tragically met his demise for the sake of communicating stakes. It seems the Mary Sue powers one gets from playing James Bond don’t translate to other franchises.
But, with James Gunn building up the new DC Universe canon, we all have the luxury of ignoring the events of Black Adam and most other DCEU projects, and the folks over at r/DC_Cinematic are hoping that means more of the scene-stealing sorcerer is in the cards.
Indeed, with The Flash looking all set to wipe the DCEU’s continuity from at least most of existence, Doctor Fate could trade in his fate for greener pastures.
Of course, Fate’s return comes with the very important stipulation that Brosnan is still the one under that helmet; that’s one piece of the DCEU that’s more than welcome in Gunnland.
We’re not sure how much we should hold our breath for something like a Doctor Fate origin story, especially considering that the DCU won’t officially begin until 2025, let alone what will come post-Gods and Monsters, and when. But, at this point, it’s a social responsibility of cape-centric fandoms to daydream beyond the perception of time if possible, and Doctor Fate’s return is no doubt one of the more popular DCU dreams out there.
Black Adam is available to stream on HBO Max.