What is the work?[]
Black Adam is the 11th entry in the DC Extended Universe starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the titular role. Set in the country of Kahndaq, it is being oppressed by the criminal organization Intergang. An archaeologist named Adrianne Tomaz is tasked with finding a historical relic known as the Crow of Sabbac which was crafted by an evil king named Ahk-Ton due to him wanting to obtain even more power.
However, they unwittingly free a superhuman who was granted the power of Shazam.
Who is he? What has he done?[]
Ishmael is the main antagonist of the film who seemingly is an ally of Adrianna and Karim. After he gets seemingly killed, it is revealed that he was the descendant of the aforementioned Ahk-Ton which made him "eligible" for the throne. Upon being exposed, he kidnaps Adrianna's son Amon and later threatens his life if he was not given the crown.
Even when they do as he demanded, he shoots Amon anyway inciting Black Adam into killing him. After he gets taken to an underwater base depowered, the Justice Society realizes that Ishmael banked on Black Adam killing him so he could be sent to Hell where he would receive the powers of the six demons and become their champion.
Becoming Sabbac, Ishmael is tasked with bringing about the End Times and raises an army of the undead. He fights with the Justice Society, giving the fatal blow to Doctor Fate before he has a final confrontation with Black Adam. With the use of Doctor Fate's helmet, Black Adam tells Sabaac that he was the one who sent him and rips him in half.
Freudian Excuse? Mitigating factors?[]
He is a flat character with a generic "I want to obtain the powers of a god and rule the world!" motivation, but he has no sympathetic/tragic elements to him. He is disloyal to the resistance fighters and thinks nothing of killing them out of sadism.
Heinous standard[]
So going with the more bigger threats which jeopardized the world at large:
- Dr. Sivana from Shazam also contacts demonic forces becoming their "champion" in the same way Ishmael had. However, his actions are arguably more destructive as he can bring Hell to Earth just by sitting on the throne, and he lacks the many sympathetic traits of the man. Sivana had a bad upbringing and rightfully despised his abusive family and had little resources as he could not amass an army.
- General Zod tried to conquer Earth in Man of Steel which would require manipulating the climate of the Earth to better fit Krypton which would lead to humanity's extinction. However, he was "well-intentioned" in his plan and upon being resurrected as Doomsday, he was more or less a confused beast who did not consent to being made into a monster.
- Ocean Master (DC Extended Universe): Tried to wipe out the surface world due to its polluting of the oceans. However, he does have some form of nobility to him and cares for his mother.
- Ares (DC Extended Universe): Tried to get mankind to wage wars on itself due to his beliefs of them being inherently evil. But he was genuine in what he tried to accomplish.
With Sabbac, he sells out his own country due to being the leader of Intergang being responsible for a lot of death and corruption. He tries to kick start the End Times of his own volition and makes it clear that he would hurt a child. We are also shown a vision from Doctor Fate on how the world looked like when Sabbac won and it was not pretty.