Black Adam has been out for a while now and people have had some really mixed reactions to it. I personally didn’t like it all that much but your mileage may vary. It’s not that I though it was totally atrocious but the number of negatives simply outweighed whatever positives it had. This was a big swing and a miss from DC and Warner Bros. in my opinion.

But now that Black Adam has hit theaters pretty much everywhere now, the people who’ve watched it have already done so I believe it should be safe to talk about some of the questions that popped up during the movie. As usual, I don’t like to talk about any big plot holes or story threads because other blogs and videos have probably discussed them. What I like to do is shine a spotlight on some of the more inconsequential questions throughout the film.

Before I do talk about these inconsequential questions, I do have to put up the prerequisite SPOILER WARNING now. While these questions may be rather unimportant, they still deal with some plot points or character development. So, yeah, SPOILER WARNING!

Anyway, on with the inconsequential questions!

#1 Why would Waller need the Suicide Squad when she has the Justice Society on speed dial?

I know a lot of people have probably pointed out by now that, since the Justice Society are supposed to have been active for quite a while (Doctor Fate even comments to Hawkman that they’ve been doing this for years), why didn’t they help out with any of the major events in the previous DC movies? Where were they when General Zod invaded the Earth and when Steppenwolf nearly destroyed the world? So I’m not going to ask that. What I’m going to ask instead is why Amanda Waller had to create the Suicide Squad when she could just contact Hawkman, Doctor Fate or the entire Justice Society?

Remember, the reason why Amanda Waller created the Suicide Squad, at least during her initial proposal before forming the group, was to have a team of superpowered individuals who might be able to take down other superpowered beings like Superman. Maybe you forgot because of your selective amnesia due to the fact you really wanted to forget out bad the first Suicide Squad movie was. Believe me: I would to if I could.

But, as shown during the early parts of Black Adam, she’s simply contacts Hawkman, prompting him to assemble a team to fly to Kahndaq to take out the awakened antihero. So, if she already had a team of super powered beings, and good hearted ones so you don’t need to implant bombs in their heads to control them, why even bother creating a Suicide Squad? Oh, you can say it was a ruse so she could put together a black ops team for her own purposes. That’s a possible answer, I guess. But it’s not the one we got from the Suicide Squad film.

Speaking of Hawkman…

#2 Why is Hawkman rich?

I will admit, I do like the entire introduction to the Justice Society. We got to get a glimpse of all of them arriving at Hawkman’s mansion before they go fly off on this big jet made completely of nth metal. How they were executed and depicted on screen, especially regarding Atom Smasher and Cyclone, left a lot to be desired.

What did throw me off is Hawkman’s mansion as I do have to ask: why is he rich? From what I know about the comic book version of Hawkman, his civilian identity, Carter Hall, was never a rich guy. He may have been an archeologist but he was never shown to be wealthy enough to have a mansion. So I do have to wonder how Hawkman became rich enough to have a mansion and a place to land his high tech jet underneath the grounds? I guess he could be smart enough to sell his inventions or even sell nth metal to amass his fortune. I mean, it should be as valuable as something like Eterium, right?

Speaking of Eterium…

#3 Why isn’t Kahndaq rich from mining Etherium?

One of the things I didn’t like about Black Adam is the entire flashback intro and narration of how Kahndaq was taken over. It seems so cliche for an invading force to take over a land and then force the citizens to mine the area for some macguffin type of material. In Black Adam, that macguffin is Etherium. It’s shown to have a lot of uses, like creating flying bikes that can phase through solid materials and even knocking out a certain magical powered antihero during the fight big action scene.

So, if Etherium is so valuable and useful, why isn’t the country of Kahndaq rick and powerful? Even with it being invaded multiple times (and never being saved by other superheroes), the country should still be super rich because they could be exporting Etherium to other countries. Heck, as Etherium can only be found in Kahndaq, they have an instant monopoly on it! There should’ve been a time when the country should’ve realized they could make a mint by slowly exporting this super rare mineral to other countries! At a certain point, they wouldn’t have needed Black Adam and his super powers because they would be a world superpower!

Speaking of Black Adam and his super powers…

#4 Why couldn’t Shazam and the other wizards just strip Black Adam of his powers?

Oh, DC and Warner Bros. Sometimes, you can be a little overzealous with your trailers. I say that because they apparently spoiled a really big twist in Black Adam without realizing it. If you didn’t watch the trailers, you were led to believe that the little slave boy who was about to be killed for trying to lead the revolution was Black Adam. But, if you watched either of the trailers, you know it’s the father who becomes Black Adam. He even says that he was saved by his son and given the powers afterwards! So, yeah, the trailers actually ruin the supposed surprise.

Anyway, after the apparent final battle during ancient times and Black Adam accidentally wipes out the population of Kahndaq, he’s sentenced by Shazam and the other wizards to be entombed because he wasn’t purehearted like his son, making him a danger to the world. Well, why would they do that and not just strip him off his powers? You might say they can’t do that but it’s been shown that it’s so easy to transfer the Shazam powers to another individual. I mean, that’s exactly what his son did! I mean, if it’s that simple, why not just take his powers away?

You might say that the Shazam wizards can’t do that and the powers must be given freely. But, by that point in time, Black Adam was already feeling remorseful because he did destroy everyone in Kahndaq. So he would’ve been more than willing to renounce his powers by then! He could’ve just said Shazam, revert to his mortal form and live out his life and then die of old age the natural way even! In fact, near the end of the film, he does the first part before surrendering to the Justice Society to be imprisoned in a secure bunker lead by Hardcourt! If he didn’t want to use the powers anymore by then, why not just give them to someone else he thinks to be worthy like what his son did for him?

Speaking of Harcourt…

#5 When did Harcourt get back in Waller’s good graces?

It was nice to see Emilia Harcourt all well in Black Adam. After the hell she went through in Peacemaker, it’s just nice to see her able to walk again. She seems to have bounced back nicely as she seems to be the one heading up the black site where superpowered beings are being held.

However, I do have to ask why Amanda Waller would allow Harcourt to still be a part of her team. I mean, wasn’t she part of the team that exposed Task Force X at the end of Peacemaker? Sure, it was Waller’s daughter that held the press conference. But you would think Harcourt would have gotten a lot of heavy blowback from the unwanted exposure, especially considering she’s a veteran of covert operations. Is Amanda Waller getting too soft?

BONUS: Why would anyone want to read superhero comics in a world populated by superheroes?

One of the things I really hated about Black Adam was the kid. I think they tried to make him like Freddy Freeman from the Shazam movie but he just lacks the nerdy charm to pull it off. I guess he likes superheroes because he has posters and comics of the heroes of the DC Extended Universe.

The poster I understand. But the comics? Why? When you watch the real thing on television everyday, why read comics based on superheroes? I mean, you can see the real thing doing super powered stuff! Why read comics based on the same thing? It just seems weird to me.

Have any other inconsequential questions from Black Adam? Let me know what they are in the comments section below!