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While the Justice League’s managed to defeat many “undefeatable” foes over the years, Xanadoth’s arrival comes at a precarious moment for the team.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Justice League #72, on sale now from DC Comics.
Black Adam has established himself as one of the most powerful and morally-complex anti-heroes in the history of DC Comics. Although the former champion of the wizard Shazam adheres to a strict code of personal honor, his traumatic upbringing as a slave and willingness to resort to extreme measures to defend those he’s sworn to protect has driven him to commit many horrifying acts of villainy. Torn between these two sides of himself, Adam has served as both an enemy and ally to the Wizard’s current champion Billy Batson, the extended Marvel Family, and their allies within the Justice League, even joining the team during Brian Michael Bendis’s run on Justice League.
Sadly, despite the earnest effort that he’s put into atoning for his past crimes as a member of the Justice League, Justice League #72 (by Bendis, Emanuela Lupacchino, Szymon Kudranski, Wade von Grawbadger, Hi-Fi, and Josh Reed) has forced the DC Extended Universe’s newest star back onto the path of villainy and given him a dangerous power boost. After being possessed by Xanadoth, the first Lord of Chaos, Adam has once again become a threat to the world, and his downfall could be the beginning of the end for the Justice League.
Justice League #72 opened with mystical heroes like Zatanna, Madame Xanadu, and the current Doctor Fate Khalid Nassour receiving an apocalyptic vision of a super-charged and seemingly-possessed Black Adam hovering over the charred corpses of the Justice League. Unfortunately, before they can warn the League, Adam’s summoned back to his home nation of Kahndaq by Xanadoth, who wished to claim him as her vessel. Although Xanadoth attempted to convince Adam to become her host willingly by bringing up his villainous past, the ruler of Kahndaq rejected the Lord of Chaos’ offer and attacked her. Sadly, despite the Justice League coming to his aid, Adam was eventually overpowered and possessed by Xanadoth, who appeared ready to fulfill the terrifying vision that preceded her arrival.
Black Adam was already one of the most powerful mystical beings on Earth, but Xanadoth’s possession has transformed him into a being on par with a god. With the ability to bend reality to their will, the Lords of Order and Chaos are some of the most powerful beings within the DC universe, and the threat that Xanadoth poses to the universe was severe enough to force the two warring pantheons to work together to seal her away in the ancient past. Nabu, the most powerful of the Lords of Order, bluntly declared that the Earth was doomed now that Xanadoth has somehow broken free, choosing to sever his connection with the Helmet of Fate to escape Xanadoth’s wrath.
The Justice League has managed to defeat many “undefeatable” foes over the years, but Xanadoth’s arrival comes at a precarious moment for the team. In late January, DC announced that May’s Justice League #75 will kill off all but one of the team’s current members. Although those same previews revealed that the nine condemned heroes will die at the hands of the so-called “Dark Army”, Xanadu’s possession of Black Adam may have supplied this sinister force with one of its most powerful potential soldiers. In the past, Adam has managed to hold his own against the likes of Superman in one-on-one combat, and the additional mystical power of Xanadu could make him a threat to the entire Justice League.
To make matters worse for Black Adam and the Justice League, Xanadoth does have a motive to assist the Dark Army. As a Lord of Chaos, Xanadoth draws her powers from the chaos that she causes, and Nabu mentioned that she’s already gorging herself off of the turmoil that Earth’s fallen into following Infinite Frontier. Considering how much faith the people of Earth have in the Justice League, the panic that their deaths would cause would give Xanadoth even more power.
Although there’s still a chance that Black Adam will escape Xanadoth’s influence before Justice League #75, the timing of his possession doesn’t bode well for the team. Despite his best efforts to atone for his past sins, Adam may be the one who ends up killing the Justice League.
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