Warning: This article contains spoilers for Black Adam.
With so many big-name heroes in the mix, like Dwayne Johnson’s titular champion of Kahndaq and the Justice Society of America, the marketing for Black Adam didn’t have much room to tease the film’s villain. Once you catch the movie, though, you’ll discover that its big bad is none other than Sabbac, a demonic foe pulled from the pages of DC Comics.
Traditionally, Teth-Adam has been viewed as the evil antithesis of the hero Shazam — or, as he used to be called before Marvel swiped the name, Captain Marvel — but Black Adam makes clear that Sabbac is the real dark mirror to those that wield the wizard’s power. While Zachary Levi’s costumed crusader and The Rock’s ancient warrior get their abilities from gods, Sabbac draws his hellish strength from half a dozen demons.
Slightly frustratingly for those who like to keep track of the lore, however, Black Adam doesn’t actually specify what the word “Sabbac” stands for. Thankfully, the source material provides an answer.
Who are the demons who power Sabbac?
Sabbac first appeared in the comics in 1943 as an enemy of Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family. The first Sabbac was Timothy Karnes, whose empowered appearance was mostly humanoid, except for the addition of fangs. Sabbac’s second incarnation, Ishmael Gregor, is a much more recent creation, only debuting on the page in 2004. He murdered Karnes and stole his power, transforming into a horned monster. But here’s how things go in the DCEU.
Black Adam‘s opening prologue reveals that Teth-Adam originally lived during the reign of the tyrannical Kahndaqi king Ahk-Ton (Marwan Kenzari), who created a powerful item called the Crown of Sabbac out of Eternium, the mystical mineral native only to Kahndaq. Thankfully, Adam killed Ahk-Ton before he was able to use the crown to establish his cruel empire across the world.
In the modern-day, Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) tracks down the lost crown in an attempt to get it out of the reach of occupying force Intergang, only to hand it right to their duplicitous leader, Ishmael Gregor (also Kenzari), who it turns out is the descendant of Ahk-Ton. Eventually, he succeeds in reclaiming what he sees as his birthright and dons the crown, ultimately being reborn as a demonic being imbued with dark power when he says the word “Sabbac.”
So which demons’ names make up this evil incantation? In the comics, Sabbac stands for Satan, Aym, Belial, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, and Crateis – six of the Grand Lords of Hell. We glimpse the sextet of demons in the film itself when Ishmael is killed by Adam — just as he planned — and finds himself in Hell, whereupon the devils elect him as their own avatar on Earth.
DC fans may wish to note that Satan is a different being from Lucifer Morningstar, the more humanoid Lord of Hell featured in other DC media, such as Lucifer, The Sandman, and Constantine. The DCEU itself has previously included demonic entities in Shazam!, which saw Dr. Sivana bond with the Seven Deadly Sins.
Black Adam is out in theaters now.