The December 16, 2022 release date for Black Adam on HBO Max is quickly becoming anticlimactic.
With the star power of Dwayne Johnson and the unexpected return of Henry Cavill's Superman, Black Adam was widely anticipated to be a financial success for Warner Bros. Discovery when it was released in theaters that October of 2022.
Black Adam was supposed to be a step in a new direction for the DCEU; it featured a new antihero as well as another flagship superhero team in the form of the Justice Society of America; but, it underperformed both critically and commercially.
Black Adam, which grossed less than $400 million worldwide in theaters, will now debut on HBO Max barely two months after its theatrical debut.
Since Black Adam has a high production cost and a large marketing effort, it's possible that DC Studios and Warner Bros. Discovery will take a financial hit from the movie.
However, it's impossible to overlook the fact that the DCU has undergone a major management change in the two months between Black Adam's theatrical premiere and its appearance on HBO Max, and that this change will effect not only this film but everything else that DC Studios still has on its release plan.
Forgoing the character's tie to Shazam's mythos, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has previously stated that Black Adam would be a stepping stone to a Black Adam and Superman face-off.
The likelihood of a Black Adam sequel has diminished due to the film's weak box office showing.
James Gunn and Peter Safran, the new leaders of DC Studios, have already made it clear that they will be taking the DCU in a completely different path by rejecting Patty Jenkins' proposal for Wonder Woman 3 and confirming that Henry Cavill will not be returning as Superman in any future films.
The movie has strong ties to known narrative strands and characters from the former administration, even if Black Adam is a new character for the DCU.
Both Superman and Viola Davis's Amanda Waller made cameo appearances in Black Adam, forever connecting the franchise's future to other contemporary DC concepts that are expected to be phased away within the next months and years.
The future of Black Adam on HBO Max appears bleak at best, given the service's own worrisome cancelations and quick deletions as of late, unless the show experiences unforeseen success.
Given that Henry Cavill's comeback as Superman was a significant selling point for Black Adam, it's hard to imagine that the film would do better on streaming services.
Cavill's return to the big screen as Superman was praised as a triumph and provided spectators optimism for the character's future, despite merely being a part of a post-credit sequence.
This sequence was so confident in Superman's bright future that it even featured John Williams's famous Superman music.
Unfortunately, this was not to be, as it has since been confirmed that Cavill will no longer play Superman.
However, there is less of a draw to see Black Adam only for that scenario because it seems less plausible that Black Adam would ever actually meet Superman.
Black Adam works fine as a stand-alone adventure, and not every comic book film needs to be part of an overarching continuity. However, the film's story was met with lukewarm reviews, and audiences were won over by the movie's large-scale action sequences, which are more impressive on the big screen than on a home theater system.
With the star power of Dwayne Johnson and the unexpected return of Henry Cavill's Superman, Black Adam was widely anticipated to be a financial success for Warner Bros. Discovery when it was released in theaters that October of 2022.
Black Adam was supposed to be a step in a new direction for the DCEU; it featured a new antihero as well as another flagship superhero team in the form of the Justice Society of America; but, it underperformed both critically and commercially.
Black Adam, which grossed less than $400 million worldwide in theaters, will now debut on HBO Max barely two months after its theatrical debut.
Since Black Adam has a high production cost and a large marketing effort, it's possible that DC Studios and Warner Bros. Discovery will take a financial hit from the movie.
However, it's impossible to overlook the fact that the DCU has undergone a major management change in the two months between Black Adam's theatrical premiere and its appearance on HBO Max, and that this change will effect not only this film but everything else that DC Studios still has on its release plan.
Forgoing the character's tie to Shazam's mythos, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has previously stated that Black Adam would be a stepping stone to a Black Adam and Superman face-off.
The likelihood of a Black Adam sequel has diminished due to the film's weak box office showing.
James Gunn and Peter Safran, the new leaders of DC Studios, have already made it clear that they will be taking the DCU in a completely different path by rejecting Patty Jenkins' proposal for Wonder Woman 3 and confirming that Henry Cavill will not be returning as Superman in any future films.
The movie has strong ties to known narrative strands and characters from the former administration, even if Black Adam is a new character for the DCU.
Both Superman and Viola Davis's Amanda Waller made cameo appearances in Black Adam, forever connecting the franchise's future to other contemporary DC concepts that are expected to be phased away within the next months and years.
The future of Black Adam on HBO Max appears bleak at best, given the service's own worrisome cancelations and quick deletions as of late, unless the show experiences unforeseen success.
Given that Henry Cavill's comeback as Superman was a significant selling point for Black Adam, it's hard to imagine that the film would do better on streaming services.
Cavill's return to the big screen as Superman was praised as a triumph and provided spectators optimism for the character's future, despite merely being a part of a post-credit sequence.
This sequence was so confident in Superman's bright future that it even featured John Williams's famous Superman music.
Unfortunately, this was not to be, as it has since been confirmed that Cavill will no longer play Superman.
However, there is less of a draw to see Black Adam only for that scenario because it seems less plausible that Black Adam would ever actually meet Superman.
Black Adam works fine as a stand-alone adventure, and not every comic book film needs to be part of an overarching continuity. However, the film's story was met with lukewarm reviews, and audiences were won over by the movie's large-scale action sequences, which are more impressive on the big screen than on a home theater system.
