The latest addition to the DC Expanded Universe movie franchise, Black Adam, is charging up its promotional lightning bolts in advance of the film’s premiere this fall, and one particular item may have spilled the beans about who we can expect the titular ancient African superhero to be contending against in the film’s climactic fight sequences.
Warning: the following may contain spoilers for the upcoming Black Adam movie.
Online collectible retailer Entertainment Earth recently added a new official Black Adam megafig action figure to the site. The figure is Sabbac, a fictional demonic supervillain who debuted in the same Fawcett Comics that gave us Captain Marvel (AKA Shazam!) and Black Adam. The character was conceived as the polar opposite of The Marvel family members though, like them, he derives his power from an ancient magic word. Whereas Shazam derives his powers from positive paragons of history and myth (i.e. Solomon, Hermes, Atlas, etc.), Sabbac gains his abilities from evil avatars of the seven deadly sins.
The character was incorporated into the DC universe when the company acquired the rights to the Marvel Family characters in the 1970s. Several individuals in the DC Comics universe have become Sabbac over the years, fighting both Shazam and Black Adam as well as the supergroup known as The Outsiders. A live-action version of the character appeared in the Arrow TV series.
In addition to the rather big reveal of a major DC villain appearing in the film, the toy’s description also drops some fairly large spoilers about the upcoming movie. According to the site, “Possessed by a demon, a military Intergang leader transforms into Sabbac, the only being whose powers are equal to those of Black Adam. Determined to take over [Black Adam’s home country] Kahndaq and maybe the whole world, Sabbac must be stopped, and the fiercely autonomous Black Adam may need the help of some unlikely allies to outmatch him.”
This situation likely describes the set-up of a coalition of the many DC superheroes slated to appear in Black Adam, including Justice Society members Doctor Fate, Hawkman, Cyclone, and Atom Smasher. Although it was already known that Intergang, an international criminal group that uses alien technology from Darkseid’s homeworld of Apokolips, would be appearing in the film, this confirms how they’ll be involved in the plot. While the general in question is not revealed, the toy does somewhat resemble actor Marwan Kenzari, who is slated to play a character named Ishmael in the film.
However, the reveal doesn’t necessarily mean Sabbac will be the film’s primary antagonist. A similar situation occurred earlier this year, when a Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness tie-in jigsaw puzzle revealed what fans took to be comic villain Shuma-Gorath, but instead turned out to be a minor antagonist named Gargantos instead.
Fans will have to wait until October 22 to find out exactly what role Sabbac will play when Black Adam debuts theatrically.