‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods‘ is the follow-up to the 2019 DC movie ‘Shazam!’ and sees Zachary Levi return to play the hero. The trailer of the upcoming movie was released during DC’s panel at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con, which also saw the ‘Black Adam‘ trailer, where Dwayne Johnson plays the central character. 

Considering both Shazam and Black Adam’s costumes have the distinctive bolt emblazoned across their chest, many have wondered whether the two characters are related. 

Black Adam, in the comics, is an Egyptian man named Teth-Adam, who’s selected by the wizard Shazam to be his successor, based on the individual’s presumed moral purity. However, when he gains the powers, Teth-Adam becomes Mighty Adam and is eventually corrupted by the vastness of his powers. 

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Billy Batson is later chosen by Shazam before the wizard’s death and gets the powers to turn into the superhero formerly known as Captain Marvel. 

Both Shazam and Black Adam have to say the word “Shazam” to gain their powers, which happen to be evenly matched and similar since it comes from the same source. 

Originally, the wizard gave Black Adam powers from Greco-Roman gods but later when the Sons of Adam resurrected him, the character began drawing his powers from Egyptian gods. They include the strength of Amon, the stamina of Shu, the wisdom of Zehuti, the courage of Mehen, the swiftness of Heru and the power of Aton.

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Black Adam was initially supposed to appear in ‘Shazam!’, and the film would have marked the character’s origin story as well. However, Johnson had felt the need for an individual film, reasoning that only serious comic book fans would know of Black Adam beforehand. 

Levi won’t be appearing in the upcoming ‘Black Adam’ movie, as per currently available information, but with the character being introduced in the DCEU, the door has been opened to future cross-appearances.