Superman/Shazam! The Return of Black Adam (2010)

60% of users liked it
(760 ratings)

Superman finds a foe who may be too powerful even for him to defeat in the murderous Black Adam. Fortunately, Black Adam's real target is the Earth's Mightiest Mortal--Captain Marvel.

Rating, Runtime: PG, 22 min.
Directed By: Joaquim Dos Santos
Written By: Steve Niles, Greg Weisman, Joe R. Lansdale, Michael Jelenic
Genres: Action & Adventure, Animation, Special Interest

In Theaters: Nov 9, 2010 Wide
On DVD: Dec 7, 2010

Critic Reviews

R. L. Shaffer, IGN DVD
Ultimately, Superman/Shazam! is a satisfying short, but it barely scrapes the surface of this character's potential, which is just a shame.
Sean Axmaker, Seanax.com
... a fine film, if a little stunted in scope for such a significant story, with the same high level of production values seen in earlier animated shorts release by Warner...

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

EightThirty .

22/01/201 (NetFlix, PS3)
Manu G

It was kinda short, it was very good, loved the story and the fights, too bad it was so short. Shazam and there goes Captain Marvel wow! Superman finds a foe who may be too powerful even for him to defeat in the murderous Black Adam. Fortunately, Black Adam's real target is the… More
It was kinda short, it was very good, loved the story and the fights, too bad it was so short. Shazam and there goes Captain Marvel wow! Superman finds a foe who may be too powerful even for him to defeat in the murderous Black Adam. Fortunately, Black Adam's real target is the Earth's Mightiest Mortal--Captain Marvel.
Conner R

The only good segment out of this was the Green Arrow one, which amounted to ten minutes. The other two, Shazam and Spectre, are just ridiculous and worthless. Nothing but fighting in the Shazam segment and the Spectre segment was a mock grindhouse/noir which made no sense. They… More
The only good segment out of this was the Green Arrow one, which amounted to ten minutes. The other two, Shazam and Spectre, are just ridiculous and worthless. Nothing but fighting in the Shazam segment and the Spectre segment was a mock grindhouse/noir which made no sense. They should have just produced a feature length Green Arrow and ignored the other two.
Jason S

The DVD is excellent. It's a collection of shorts featuring many DC Heroes. Included is the team up of Superman and Captain Marvel battling Black Adam, Jonah Hex doing a job, Green Arrow protecting royalty, and The Specter laying down some vengeance. The downside to this… More
The DVD is excellent. It's a collection of shorts featuring many DC Heroes. Included is the team up of Superman and Captain Marvel battling Black Adam, Jonah Hex doing a job, Green Arrow protecting royalty, and The Specter laying down some vengeance. The downside to this collection is that all the other shorts are featured on other DC Universe animated movies as special features. I wouldn't pay the $20 if I had the others already.
Michael G

Pretty goddamn cool. The Return of Black Adam spends very little time screwing around. It skips most of the foreplay and gets to a good solid stretch of asskicking and fanboy appeasement. Definitely check it out if you get the chance but don't drop $15 on it if you've… More
Pretty goddamn cool. The Return of Black Adam spends very little time screwing around. It skips most of the foreplay and gets to a good solid stretch of asskicking and fanboy appeasement. Definitely check it out if you get the chance but don't drop $15 on it if you've already got the other DC DVDs that have all the other stories that accompany the Superman/Shazam one. So much fun...!
Jason V

Nothing out of the ordinary here, with a majority of the story being action with little exposition. It should be noted this is the longest of the DC Showcase pieces, clocking in at just about 24 minutes. It's an origin story for Captain Marvel, a prologue for more adventures… More
Nothing out of the ordinary here, with a majority of the story being action with little exposition. It should be noted this is the longest of the DC Showcase pieces, clocking in at just about 24 minutes. It's an origin story for Captain Marvel, a prologue for more adventures with this character. The only "iffy" part is the constant redesigns for the characters. This time out they don't reflect cover art at all. Superman looks a bit anemic...but hey...it's fine entertainment in the DC universe.
Jim W

This really isn't a movie, the feature title is only a half hour long and then you get short films after-wards starring other DC comic heroes. All of the shorts are well done, even if they are all pilots pretty much and just leave you wanting more.