DC’s long-awaitedBlack Adamis one of the most hotly anticipated superhero movies in the genre, pitting the eponymous anti-hero against old-school heroes. Everyone knows about Dwayne Johnson’s character, but he’s set to encounter the classic Justice Society of America, one fixture of which is the underrated Atom Smasher.
The JSA heroesconfirmed to appear inBlack Adamrange from iconic to near unknown DC characters.Black Adamwill be the first big-screen appearance for almost every character announced so far, and Atom Smasher is no exception, having only appeared on TV and in cartoons up til now.
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The first use of the name Atom Smasher was in a 1996 issue ofKingdom Comewritten by Mark Waid, but technically, the character existed prior to this. Atom Smasher’s real name is Albert Rothstein, he inherited his superpowers from his grandfatherwho was a supervillain. Rothstein can alter his physical size and molecular density at will, he can grow to the size of a skyscraper and wield subsequently immense strength. Rothstein was raised by his godfather, Al Pratt AKA Atom, a superhero gifted super-strength through a battle with Rothstein’s aforementioned grandfather. Atom was the inspiration for Rothstein’s costume. Rothstein operated under the name Nuklon before his rebranding inKingdom Come,but has been known as Atom Smasher since the late nineties.
Atom Smasher is a type of character not uncommon to comic book universes, a character who is very rarelyseen outside of a team. He has been a part of the Justice Society of America, the Justice League America, and the Suicide Squad, among others. His personality is aggressive, vengeful, and often overbearing, but he is loyal to a fault. Though he is a hero, he often finds himself either committing murder or being stopped at the last minute before a murder. At one point, the supervillain Kobra kills his mother, leaving Rothstein devastated. In response, Rothstein strikes a deal with the near-omniscient New God Metron, who enables him to go back in time, save his mother and trap a different supervillain in the same fate for good measure. Rothstein then spends a great deal of time hunting Kobra and stopping just short of killing him. This questionable moral code reaches an interesting encounter when Rothstein meets newly-reformed villain Black Adam.
Rothstein’s interactionwith Black Adam beginsafter Adam decides to turn to the side of good and attempts to join the JSA. Rothstein begins their new partnership very distrustful of Adam, holding firm in his belief that someone as evil as Adam couldn’t change their ways. Rothstein changes his mind when Adam validates Rothstein’s convoluted time-travel murder scheme, then the two bond over their shared love of killing evil people. Adam and Rothstein then become good friends and subsequently quit the JSA together. Adam even hunts down and kills Kobra for him, Rothstein returns the favor by killing the dictator of Adam’s home nation Kanhndaq. The pair are inseparable for a short time, but their relationship goes south just as Rothstein’s life takes a dark turn.
Rothstein’s actions in Kahndaq land him in hot water with the local authorities, placing him behind bars in the foreign nation. Whilst jailed, Rothstein is approached by Amanda Waller, who recruits him into her brand new Suicide Squad. Her mission for him is a difficult one, on both an emotional and a physical level;hunt down and capture Black Adam. Rothstein aids in assembling a team to take down his old friend, but the Squad is soundly defeated by Adam and his family. After this betrayal and the loss of his family, Adam goes on a gruesome rampage, culminating in a ruthless genocide in the fictional nation of Bialya. Rothstein rejoins the JSA to find Adam, tries to talk him into being reasonable or going into hiding, and is ignored repeatedly.
Black Adam is depowered and repoweredas Rothstein and the JSA seek him out. The other members of the JSA are reticent to accept Rothstein back into the fold after his violent antics and previous betrayal, but he proves himself against all odds. Rothstein finds Black Adam, and though he cannot defeat him, he succeeds in talking him into de-escalating. Rothstein uses his heart, rather than his powers, to convince Adam to surrender his powers and allow Shazam to return. This is the end of the characters' strange relationship and the biggest heroic accomplishment of Atom Smasher’s career. His journey took him from abandoningthe superhero team of his dreamsto indulge his need to kill the bad guy to using diplomacy to defeat his former best friend. Rothstein’s story is a fascinating one, a superhero who really tests a lot of moral lines for the comic book hero universe.
Atom Smasher is a dynasty superhero who develops from amoral anti-hero, to war criminal, to upstanding memberof the new JSA. The character is so tied in with Teth-Adam, fans should be on the edge of their seats waiting to see whatBlack Adamdoes with this lesser-known DC hero.
