Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Black Adam.
Black Adam, after a successful run in theaters that saw Dwayne Johnson winning acclaim for his portrayal of the antihero, is now on HBO Max. It's a chance to revisit the mid-credits sequence of the film that captured the imagination of the DC fan base with its reintroduction of Superman (Henry Cavill) to the DCU, albeit for only a short time as has recently been reported. Still, as you watch it, the scene becomes palpable, pregnant with a multitude of possibilities. It's the alpha dog meetup we didn't know we wanted, but now that we've had it, we wait with bated breath any details on if, and how, their story continues.
But even without Cavill, we hold out hope that the characters, one way or another, go toe-to-toe with one another, a veritable clash of titans, an epic battle that only barely stays on screen. Anything less just doesn't feel right. But what does that look like? In this corner, the champion of truth and justice, and in this corner, the antihero protector of Kahndaq. Who wins?
Black Adam vs. Superman Rarely Happens in the Comics
Despite each having a long comic book history, Black Adam and Superman have really only fought a handful of times, with Black Adam primarily seen alongside his arch-nemesis, Shazam. Their first encounter wasn't even a battle between them, as Black Adam masqueraded as Shazam and attacked Superman, orchestrating a showdown between the two heroes. Supergirl stopped their fight by turning Black Adam back into Teth-Adam with the use of a magic staff. Another encounter resulted in a devastating fight between the two, until they realized they were after the same person. The Earth-S Black Adam's arrival on Earth-One prompted both Superman and Shazam to work together to stop Black Adam from conquering the world. Truth be told, the most epic Black Adam versus Superman moment in the comics is in the Forever Evil storyline, where Black Adam takes on Superman's evil doppelganger from Earth-3's Crime Syndicate, Ultraman. Long story short, there isn't enough shared history of conflict between the two in the comics to make a case for who would win. Who wins in a fight between the two, then, would be determined by specific qualities and intangibles, and who utilizes those most effectively.
The Edge for Black Adam
As far as strength is concerned, it's pretty much a wash. Earth's yellow sun gives Superman immense strength, while Black Adam's strength is, literally, a gift from the gods, specifically Amon. A street brawl between the two could go on for days with neither gaining the upper hand. However, Superman has shown a level of restraint with his strength, often curtailing it if it may end up harming the innocents in his care. Black Adam has no such restraints, so unless Supes goes "full-Superman" on Adam from the get-go, the slight advantage here goes to Black Adam, with that advantage growing should Black Adam hear tale of the effects of Kryptonite on Superman and using it.
A weakness of Superman that doesn't get a lot of play is his susceptibility to magic, which gives Black Adam a decided edge in combat. His abilities derive from magic, and being able to utilize his magical thunderbolt would allow Black Adam additional power to his already superhuman strength, ensuring that Superman feels each and every shot. But the magic that gives Black Adam his power is also the same magic that can turn him back into a mere mortal, so if Superman could get Adam to say the magic word that transforms him, advantage shifts swiftly to Supes. Think that's a long shot? How many times has Superman tricked Mr. Mxyzptlk into saying his own name backwards, sending him back to the fifth dimension? It's not the long shot you think it is.
Advantage: Superman
Black Adam's Achilles Heel is his arrogance, and that is advantage Superman. Literally mere moments before Superman appears in the film, Adam asserts to Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) that "no one on this planet can stop me." He doesn't know Superman, doesn't know what Superman is capable of, and unless he humbles himself ever so slightly, Black Adam's disbelief that anyone can go mano-a-mano with him gives Superman an opening to take him down before Adam even knows what hit him. The last antagonist that believed Superman didn't have the cahones to do what it takes to stop him? General Zod (Michael Shannon), and we know how that turned out for him.
Superman also has a set of abilities he can use that Black Adam doesn't have: X-ray vision, heat vision, super breath and super hearing. He's grown up with these abilities, so they are second nature to him, making them strategic wild cards in a fight between the two. Speaking of strategy, that's another asset Superman possesses over Black Adam. He has often had to think outside the box to take down threats, using his surroundings to formulate an attack plan on the fly and rarely giving in to hot-headed rage. Black Adam is hot-headed rage, and despite possessing the wisdom of Zehuti, he acts first, acts again, and then thinks.
So, Who Wins in the End?
Taking all of these things into account, checking the numbers, ticking the boxes, and pure old gut instinct, it's obvious that the winner in a fight between Superman and Black Adam is... Superman. Or Black Adam. The truth is that there is no obvious winner in a hypothetical fight between the two, with a myriad of circumstances and fortune required to swing favor to one or the other. That is exactly what is so enticing about the very idea of Superman and Black Adam duking it out on screen. We know Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) beats Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren). We know Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) beats Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe). Going into a fight where the winner is not so cut and dried, where the outcome is as mysterious as the onset, would make Superman vs. Black Adam a must-see spectacular in a cinematic superhero world that so often defaults to the stereotypical "hero always wins" trope. So while the future of the DCU stands at a crossroads, with James Gunn and Peter Safran's plans for the DCU slowly coming into focus, we can always hope that those plans include a battle between these Goliaths, regardless of who dons the tights.