The following contains spoilers for Black Adam, now playing in theaters
Black Adam sees Dwayne Johnson's take on the DC antihero smash into the DC Extended Universe -- affirming those broader connections by featuring Amanda Waller and Superman in minor beats. As a result, it opens up the possibility that the film's events could spill out into the rest of the universe in short order, especially considering one of the film's biggest losses.
Black Adam kills off a whole mess of people, but only a handful of them are actually named characters with relevance to the plot. Even of them only one superhero fell during the battle, with Pierce Brosnan's Doctor Fate sacrificing himself to help save the day. But in doing so, the DCEU may have opened itself up to some new magical threats and perfectly set the stage for the long-awaited Justice League Dark.
What Happens to Doctor Fate in Black Adam?
The biggest casualty of Black Adam ends up being Doctor Fate, the mystic hero and elder veteran of the Justice Society. Having witnessed possible futures where his teammate and friend Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) dies in the battle against Sabbac (Marwan Kenzari) or the world burns, Doctor Fate instead elects to go with a third option. Creating a magical barrier around the battlefield, Doctor Fate faces off with Sabbac alone. He does well for himself, all things considered, especially considering he's also dividing his attention by motivating Teth-Adam to embrace his powers and come aid in the fight. But eventually, Sabbac overcomes Fate's tricks and delivers a fatal blow just as his allies arrive. Kent Nelson burns away into nothing -- although the Helmet of Nabu remains, with Hawkman even utilizing it in the fight.
Once the battle is over and Sabbac is defeated, the Helmet of Nabu ends up fading away. However, Black Adam has long established the idea that the Helmet is a far more powerful artifact than anything else truly glimpsed in the film. This seems to set up the possibility that the Helmet of Nabu must find a new avatar, potentially setting up any number of other potential incarnations of Doctor Fate (as the role shifted in the comics between numerous characters over the years). But the death of Doctor Fate potentially spells far worse danger for the DCEU and could be used as a useful storytelling device for the future, setting up the DCEU's need for a dedicated team of magical superheroes.
How Doctor Fate's Death Could Impact The DCEU
Doctor Fate is one of DC's most powerful supernatural heroes, tasked with protecting the world from all sorts of threats beyond the mortal realm. The death of Kent Nelson -- shown in the film to have served in the role for untold years -- means that the world is without a powerful and experienced magical protector. As a result, any number of threats could rise up to fill the void. This could even be a simple and straightforward impetus for an entire team of mystical heroes to rally together, giving the DCEU an easy reason to finally assemble Justice League Dark. An adaptation of the supernatural superhero team has been in a state of development hell for years, at one point even having Guillermo del Toro attached. But the film never came together, as the DCEU moved in different directions.
The death of Doctor Fate could be used as an excuse to unleash all sorts of magical enemies into the DCEU, necessitating an equally mystical response. Considering the magical origins of his powers, Black Adam could even get involved, further bridging the character across the universe. The Justice League Dark roster has a large bench of heroes to draw upon and could even be the next direction for Wonder Woman in the universe. It'd be an easy way to introduce audiences to new takes on Zatanna and John Constantine (who recently appeared as Johanna in Netflix's Sandman) and plant them firmly in a DC Universe. The team could even assemble directly in response to Fate's death, setting up the introduction of whatever next character takes over as Nabu's avatar. Doctor Fate's death was tragic, but it could set up the DCEU for some seriously enchanting developments.
To see Doctor Fate's last stand, check out Black Adam, now playing in theaters