Black Adam tells the origin story of Dwayne Johnson’s antihero as he arrives to shake things up in the DCEU. He’s joined in the movie by a stellar cast including Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate, Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, and Sarah Shahi as Adrianna Tomaz, among many more rising stars like Noah Centineo and Quintessa Swindell.
However, the stacked cast list doesn’t mean there aren’t still some big surprises along the way, including a sitcom legend, a nod to Peacemaker, and a very exciting post-credits surprise. With so much going on in the movie though, you would be forgiven if you missed some of them so to help you navigate through all of the major players, we’ve highlighted all the Black Adam cameos and their comic book history.
Of course, it should probably be obvious that we’ll be getting into deep spoiler territory from here on out. So, if you haven’t yet seen Black Adam, make sure you stop reading now.
Every Black Adam cameo *spoilers ahead*
Shazam Wizards
The Wizard Council from Shazam! is back in Black Adam, as Teth-Adam gets his powers in a very similar way to Zachary Levi’s hero. After Teth-Adam's son Hurut’s sacrifice, the wizards bestow the Shazam powers upon him – before later taking them away when he’s deemed unworthy of them. They only appear in a very blink-and-you-’ll-miss-it moment and don’t have any other dialogue than chanting.
The most notable is Djimon Hounsou as the Ancient Wizard. Here, he appears in flashback form as his character died during the events of the first Shazam! movie. However, we do know he’ll also appear in the upcoming sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods in some form, so he could have survived after all.
Henry Winkler as Uncle Al / Atom
The award for the most unexpected cameo goes to Henry Winkler, who plays Atom Smasher’s uncle. Centineo's superhero gives him a call early on in the movie to ask for some advice ahead of joining the Justice Society. Uncle Al is the original Atom who has passed his superhero title down to his nephew. Winkler is best known for playing Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli in Happy Days but has also had a legendary on-screen career in roles like Scream, The French Dispatch, and Barry.
Viola Davis as Amanda Waller
Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller is fast becoming a key part of almost every DC universe movie. Since her introduction in Suicide Squad, she’s had parts in The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. Now she's in Black Adam, Waller returning once again to pull the strings.
She’s the mastermind behind neutralizing Teth-Adam’s threat as she sends the Justice Society to do her dirty work. She tells Hawkman in the movie that she wants him to develop a team to help take Teth-Adam down and bring him to her prison. Of course, as usual for Waller, things don’t go quite to plan.
Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt
Another surprising cameo comes in the shape of The Suicide Squad’s and Peacemaker’s Emilia Harcourt. Played by Jennifer Holland, Harcourt makes a very brief cameo when the Justice Society brings Teth-Adam into the special underground prison that Waller has built. It’s only a very quick scene where she thanks them for turning him in and tells them that Waller "sends her regards" but it’s fun to see the character back again.
The last time she appeared was in the HBO show Peacemaker where she played one of the Project Butterfly team working with John Cena’s villain.I n the series, she suffered some brutal gunshot wounds and was recovering after the trauma of the final showdown. Given her appearance in Black Adam and that she’s back working with Waller, it seems like Harcourt has recovered well ahead of Peacemaker season 2, which is heading to HBO Max soon.
Aquaman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, and The Flash
There were plenty of references to other DC heroes in the movie thanks to the posters in Adrianna's son Amon’s (Bodhi Sabongui) bedroom. You might have noticed how much Black Adam enjoyed smashing through the likes of the Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash posters in various fight scenes. Of course, only one of these characters actually turned up in the final film…
Henry Cavill as Superman
The final cameo of the movie was the most surprising of all – if you’ve been steering clear of The Rock's Twitter page that is. Henry Cavill made a surprise return as Superman in the Black Adam after-credits scene, much to the delight of viewers. He appeared after Waller spoke to Black Adam through a communications link. Furious about him leaving her prison, she warned him that he must stay in Kahndaq or face her wrath.
When Black Adam warned that no one from this planet could rival him, Waller suggested she’d bring someone from outside of the planet. Just then, Superman emerges from the shadows to say: "It’s been a while since anyone made the planet this nervous."
As we point out in our Black Adam post-credits scene explainer, this is Cavill’s first appearance in the DCEU properly since Justice League (Zack Snyder's Justice League is not canon), and so it’s a pretty big deal that he’s back. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the idea emerged in reshoots stages and was only filmed in September.
In terms of what it means for the future, it seems pretty clear we’ll be getting some kind of Superman and Black Adam showdown, but it’s not yet obvious how this will happen. According to THR, Warner Bros. is also keen to get Cavill on board for a second Man of Steel movie first. Watch this space.
For more on Black Adam, be sure to read our explainers on:
- The Black Adam ending explained
- The Black Adam post-credits scene explained
- Is Henry Cavill starring in a new Superman movie?
- Henry Winkler's Black Adam cameo explained
- The Justice Society of America's comic-book history
- When is Black Adam on streaming?
- When does Black Adam take place on the DC timeline?
- How to watch the DC movies in order
- All the new superhero movies heading your way
