The following contains spoilers for Black Adam, now playing in theaters.

Portrayed by Pierce Brosnan in this year's DC Universe film Black Adam, Doctor Fate is a powerful master of magic and the occult. Created by Gardner Fox and Howard Sherman in 1940, Doctor Fate wears a golden helmet -- the ancient Helm of Fate -- that gives its user immense powers and a prolonged lifespan. With Dwayne Johnson's star power and charisma spearheading the film, Doctor Fate's small part was nonetheless an important aspect of Black Adam. Playing both Doctor Fate and his human alter-ego, Kent Nelson, Brosnan instills a measure of grace, poise and history into his performance. A child of World War I-era England, the helmet has helped Kent live for a much longer time than is naturally possible.

A founding member of the Justice Society -- the world's very first superhero team -- Brosnan's Doctor Fate shares the screen with Aldis Hodge's Hawkman, another classic DC hero. Because Doctor Fate's arc concludes in Black Adam, there are two ways the mystical Helm of Fate might again come into play -- someone else takes up the mantle, or a prequel story is created to expand upon this cinematic version of Kent Nelson. As a prequel presents fertile ground for a character-driven DC film -- and its implicitly historical setting provides added detail and texture -- the perfect director for this kind of story has already made a film roughly along those lines: Patty Jenkins.

RELATED: Black Adam Filmed a Deleted Post-Credit Scene Teasing Doctor Fate's DCU Future

Patty Jenkins Crafted a Superhero Period Piece With Wonder Woman

The iconic WWI photo from Wonder Woman's past

Released in 2017, a year after Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice introduced her to the big screen, Gal Gadot starred in a solo Wonder Woman film that expanded on her history and explained that she had been embedded in DC's world ever since the First World War. Outside Themyscira, Wonder Woman's ancient and legendary homeland, a large chunk of the movie is an immersive period piece that takes the hero and a team of her friends across Europe in the midst of war.

Seeing as Gadot's Wonder Woman has become such an influential and successful iteration of the superhero -- even though her first appearance was essentially relegated to the last third of Batman v Superman -- there is a powerful precedent for Doctor Fate to have the same effect. Branching out from Black Adam and returning in a prequel film -- where his character and origins are given their due -- can help reestablish another nearly-80-year-old character in the annals of pop culture on a giant scale.

RELATED: Pierce Brosnan Believes His Doctor Fate Could Still Return Despite [SPOILER]

Jenkins Understands How to Sympathetically Portray Unique Characters

Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate and Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam in Black Adam

When it comes to doing justice to a particular character, Jenkins has shown that she pays close attention to what makes her protagonists tick. Wonder Woman spent a great deal of time not only reintroducing and contextualizing Gadot's Diana/Wonder Woman but also taking the audience along on a journey of both adventure and personal change and discovery. Balanced with her attention to visual details and cues -- considering the way Jenkins recreated WWI-era London, for example -- it becomes clear that having her in the director's chair for a Doctor Fate origin film could very well lead the way for another DCU franchise.

Although Wonder Woman 1984 garnered criticism for its broad tonal shift and campy elements, the Wonder Woman sequel again put characters -- their motivations, wants, dreams, trials and fears -- front and center. Treating these larger-than-life modern icons with empathy and patience is an underlying thread throughout the two films and a distinct strength on Jenkins' part. In addition, what makes Jenkins so well-suited for a story of this sort is her ability to be an actor's director -- meaning she takes time to communicate with her performers to make sure the characters are well-constructed and that their emotional cores are clearly defined for the audience.

RELATED: Doctor Fate's Ultimate Battle in Black Adam Could Set the Stage for Other DCEU Heroes

Pierce Brosnan's Doctor Fate Deserves His Own Movie

Doctor Fate in Black Adam

After making his big screen debut, Doctor Fate sacrifices himself to save Hawkman's life near the end of the film. Thankfully, Black Adam director Jaume Collet-Serra keeps Fate from being just a glorified cameo; Fate's selfless act adds depth to this cinematic version of DC's sorcerer supreme, crystallizing his mythology in the DCU. Kent's selflessness is a part of the character (much like Wonder Woman) -- a characteristic that Jenkins could easily amplify again to tell an exciting, powerful story.

As hinted at several times during Black Adam, the Helm of Fate takes a serious toll on its wearer. This kind of deep, constant burden and otherworldly responsibility adds as yet untapped storytelling layers to Kent Nelson. And considering Jenkins' mastery at facilitating well-paced character development, Kent's journey from a regular individual to a custodian of immense, mystical power can find a balance of entertainment and sincerity with Jenkins behind the camera.

To see Doctor Fate's first venture into the DCU, Black Adam is currently playing in theaters.