Is Zack Snyder’s Justice League Canon Thanks to Black Adam?

Now, to be clear, the words “Apokolips” or “Darkseid” are never spoken in Black Adam. It’s never even mentioned where Intergang gets their weapons from. But even by superhero movie cannon fodder standards (and with a protagonist like Black Adam, who has no qualms whatsoever about dispatching his foes, this is the rare superhero movie that does indeed need cannon fodder), these guys are playing with some toys that can only be extraterrestrial in origin. We haven’t seen goons in any other corner of the DCEU with weapons and vehicles like the ones Intergang is sporting, so it’s safe to connect the dots here and say that they got these from Apokolips.

So what is there to suggest that Black Adam makes Zack Snyder’s Justice League canon rather than the theatrical version? Admittedly, we’re going by the very different ending between the two films. In the theatrical version, Darkseid’s existence is stated rather than shown, and it’s just kind of assumed that the defeat of Steppenwolf may or may not be the last we hear of the hordes of Apokolips. But in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Darkseid tells DeSaad: “Ready the armada, we’ll use the old ways.”

Is it reasonable to assume that stage one of “the old ways” involves outfitting earthly goons with extraterrestrial weapons to start softening us up for invasion? Sure it is. Their advance force just got their spiky asses handed to them by the Justice League, so it would make sense they try some other pressure points to get a better idea of what they’re getting into!

Now, does this mean that those absolutely bonkers Justice League sequels teased in the coda to that film are now back on the table? Absolutely not. But with Dwayne Johnson making it clear that he wants the DC movies going forward to make “listening to the fans” a priority, any little nods to the “Snyderverse” might help make that corner of fandom feel heard.

Black Adam is now playing in theaters.