Plot

Nearly 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the Egyptian gods--and imprisoned just as quickly--Black Adam is freed from his earthly tomb, ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world.

Reawakening after 5000 years, Black Adam becomes the world's ruthless protector: an anti-villain to take on the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman. Now in the 21st-Century, Black Adam must face off against the Justice Society of America and its heroes: Doctor Fate, Hawkman, Atom Smasher and Cyclone. The fate of the world hangs in the balance.—Johnny-the-Film-Sentinel-2187

In 2600 BC, the tyrannical king Ahk-Ton (Marwan Kenzari) the ancient king of Kahndaq, creates the Crown of Sabbac to attain great power. To complete the crown, he needed Eternium. The rare mineral was found in Kahndaq, so he enslaved his own people and forced them to dig.

The miners refuse to give the Eternium to Ahk-Ton, but a young boy convinces them to trust their King. Instead, the King brutally murders the miners. So, the boy leads a revolt and steals the Eternium back. After attempting to stage the revolt, the young slave boy is given the powers of Shazam by the Council of Wizards, transforming him into Kahndaq's heroic champion Teth-Adam (Dwayne Johnson), who fights Ahk-Ton, who had completed the crown by then and summoned its demonic powers, killing him and ending his reign. The wizards hid the crown of Sabbac, so that it never falls in the hands of man.

In the present day, Kahndaq is oppressed by the Intergang, a criminal organization, as Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi), an archaeologist and resistance-fighter, tries to locate the Crown of Sabbac with the help of her brother Karim (Mohammed Amer) and their colleagues Samir (James Cusati-Moyer) and Ishmael (Marwan Kenzari).

As Adrianna obtains the crown, Intergang ambushes them and kills Samir, forcing Adrianna to read an incantation that awakens Teth-Adam. The-Adam is former slave from Kahndaq who was bestowed with the powers of multiple Egyptian gods by his son after he was mortally wounded by king Ahk-Ton's soldiers. He possesses "the stamina of Shu, the swiftness of Heru, the strength of Amon, the wisdom of Zehuti, the power of Aten, and the courage of Mehen". Adrianna believes Teth-Adam to be Kahndaq's champion, who has woken up from a slumber. He slaughters most of the Intergang troops.

After an Intergang soldier shoots an Eternium rocket at Adam which renders him comatose, it is revealed that Ishmael is an Intergang member who intends to take the crown for himself. Adrianna takes him home and applies bandages. Adrianna sees an inscription on an inner part of the Crown which states "Life is the only way to Death."

Teth-Adam wakes up after a few hours and befriends Adrianna's son Amon (Bodhi Sabongui). Amon tells him Teth-Adam has been asleep for 5000 years. Amon tells Teth-Adam that Kahndaq has been invaded ever since he went to sleep. The country needs a hero and Teth-Adam is it. Teth-Adam ignores Amon and Adrianna and ventures out into the city. Amon makes a ruckus with the Intergang, successfully leading Adam to intervene and overpower them.

US government official Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) deems Adam a threat and contacts the Justice Society to apprehend him. Justice Society members include Carter Hall / Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) the leader of the Justice Society who wields technology and weapons made of Nth metal, a substance from another planet, Kent Nelson / Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan) an experienced and senior member of the Justice Society, who wields the Helmet of Fate and is capable of various sorcery abilities. Nelson is the son of an archaeologist, with whom he discovered the tomb of Nabu the Wise. After attaining a mystic-sentient helmet from another dimension, which chooses who it allows to wield it, he mastered his powers and used them as a superhero over many years, Maxine Hunkel / Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) a young member of the Justice Society, who was experimented on and injected with nanobot technology at a young age, resulting in her receiving the ability to control and manipulate wind. As the granddaughter of Abigail "Ma" Hunkel / Red Tornado she seeks to live up to her familial superhero legacy, and Albert "Al" Rothstein / Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) a young member of the Justice Society, with the meta-human ability to control his molecular structure which manipulates his size and strength.

The Justice Society arrive in time to stop Adam's killing spree. Teth-Adam is able to defeat the warriors of the Justice Society. Teth-Adam is hailed as the champion by the people. As they fight, Doctor Fate senses that Adrianna has the Crown of Sabbac. They manage to stop Adam for a while before he flees to the ruins of Anh-Kot's palace.

They later explain to Adrianna that Teth-Adam was not an entombed savior, but an imprisoned killer and his rage nearly destroyed Kahndaq. He was imprisoned to stop him from doing this again. If they get him to say the word "Shazam!", he will lose all his powers.

The crown is given to Amon, who takes it back home. Ishmael is there with Karim and reveals his true colors. Ishmael reveals himself as the leader of Intergang's Kahndaq division and kidnaps Adrianna's teenage son Amon, who had stolen and hidden the crown.

Adrianna and the JSA meet Adam and attempt to convince him that he can be a hero to Khandaq before Amon calls Adrianna, who pleads to Adam to save him. Adam immediately comes to the rescue, but Ishmael manages to abduct Amon and flees on an Eternium bike. Adam tries to rescue Amon by dealing with the Intergang on bikes to no avail. As Adam goes back to Adrianna's home, Hawkman manages to capture two Intergang members and interrogate them about their hideout. Adam uses brute force to interrogate both of them and learns where the Intergang's hideout is, but his way of interrogation enrages Hawkman. As Adam and Hawkman fight, they find that Amon hid the Crown of Sabbac in plain sight.

Teth-Adam, Adrianna, and the Justice Society find the crown and intend to trade it for Amon Tomaz (Bodhi Sabongui). Reaching Ishmael, he reveals himself as the last descendant of King Ahk-Ton. Unlike Teth-Adam, Sabbac was bestowed with the powers of the six most powerful demons of Hell: Satan, Aym, Belial, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, and Crateis, and wants his rightful place on the throne. Adrianna willingly gives the crown to save Amon's life, but Ishmael betrays his part of the deal and shoots at Amon, causing Teth-Adam to lose control and destroy the hideout with his powers, killing Ishmael and wounding Amon.

Guilt-ridden, Adam flees to the ruins of Ahk-Ton's palace and reveals to Hawkman that the legends of Kahndaq's champion were not attributed to the right person. It was Adam's son, Hurut (Jalon Christian), who was granted Shazam's powers and became Kahndaq's champion. Knowing that Hurut was invincible, Ahk-Ton instructed assassins to execute Hurut's family, including Adam and Hurut's mother. Hurut gave Adam his powers to save his life and Ahk-Ton's assassins immediately killed Hurut who was without his powers, causing an enraged Adam to massacre all of the king's men and inadvertently destroy his palace. Subsequently, deemed unworthy by the Council of Wizards, Adam attacked and killed them all in anger except for Shazam, who imprisoned him along with the Crown of Sabbac within what became Adam's tomb.

Feeling incapable of becoming a true hero, Adam surrenders, and he gives up his powers by saying "Shazam!". The Justice Society takes him to a secret underwater Task Force X black site in Antarctica, where Fate has a premonition of Hawkman's impending death. Teth-Adam is put into suspended animation and submerged in water, so he can't speak another word again. As the Justice Society returns to the city, they realize Ishmael intentionally provoked Adam to kill him while he wore the Crown just as Ishmael is reborn as Sabbac, the champion of the six eponymous demons and rises from the underworld to claim his throne.

When Sabbac summons the Legions of Hell to terrorize Kahndaq, the people are rallied by Amon, Adrianna, and Karim to repel the Undead as the Justice Society unsuccessfully attempts to stop Sabbac. However, Fate creates a magic force field around the ruins preventing his teammates from entering, disclosing that Hawkman's death can be avoided with his sacrifice.

As he fights Sabbac alone, Fate uses astral projection to release Adam while talking to him in his Cryogenic sleep. Sabbac kills Fate, and as a result, it dissolves the force field. Hawkman immediately enters to face Sabbac while Atom Smasher and Cyclone help protect the civilians. Sabbac quickly overpowers Hawkman, but Adam arrives just in time to join the fight. With aid from Hawkman using Fate's helmet, Adam kills Sabbac.

The Justice Society departs on good terms with Adam, who destroys the old throne in belief that Kahndaq needs a protector, not a ruler. Waller communicates with a defiant Adam and warns him against leaving Kahndaq. Afterwards, Superman (Henry Cavill) arrives and suggests that they should talk.