‘Black Adam,' a Superhero Franchise Born on a Rock

Not long into “Black Adam,” a preteen boy looks up at the muscled hulk of Dwayne Johnson and begs for his help: “We could use a superhero right now.” Speak for yourself, kid.

Do we need another superhero with another convoluted origin story that stretches back thousands of years and fulfills a whacko destiny? Do we really need another clutch of secondary-level heroes to muddy focus? We’re almost 40 deep into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a dozen in the DC universe. You can almost smell the fumes now, can’t you?

“Black Adam” isn’t bad, it’s just predictable and color-by-numbers, stealing from other films like an intellectual property super-villain. But Johnson is a natural in the title role, mixing might with humor and able to deliver those necessary wooden lines. Why he hasn’t had a starring role in a DC or Marvel superhero flick until now is astonishing — c’mon, he’s built himself into a freaking superhero in street clothes already.

Like Marvel’s “Eternals,” “Black Adam” gets out of the blocks very sluggishly with the tangled tale of our setting — Kahndaq, a fictional Middle Eastern kingdom in 2,600 B.C. that has wizards, a blood-thirsty king, a magical crown and Eternium, a rare metallic ore with energy manipulating properties (Hello, Vibranium from “Black Panther”).