Legendary James Bond veteran Pierce Brosnan plays Doctor Fate in the upcoming Black Adam movie starring Dwayne Johnson. DCEU fans may not be familiar with the character, but he enjoys a long history in DC Comics going back to the Golden Age, first appearing in More Fun Comics #55 back in 1940. His comic book past likely points toward his live-action future.

Doctor Fate remains an integral part of the greater DC universe, though he may not be as prominent even in the comics as other major DC titans. He shares some similarities with Doctor Strange, so much so he very literally intersected with him in the comics back in the 1990s.

Nabu The Wise

Comic book fans know the concept of Doctor Fate begins with the ancient Mesopotamian god Nabu The Wise. In the original comic strip that introduced the character in More Fun Comics #55, archeologist Kent Nelson goes on an expedition with his father and discovers the tomb of Nabu.

Nabu trains Kent as a sorcerer, gifting him with several powerful artifacts, including The Amulet Of Anubis and the Cloak Of Destiny. His magical spells appear often as Egyptian hieroglyphs, such as an ankh, and he is among the most powerful magicians in the DC Comics universe.

The Helmet Of Fate

The most significant gift Nabu bestowed upon Kent Nelson was the Helmet Of Fate. The helmet serves as the source of Doctor Fate’s immense mystical powers and ranks him among the most powerful magical beings in the DC Universe. Without it, he’s an accomplished sorcerer but limited in his ability.

At one point in the comics, the helmet contained the soul of Nabu himself, and he inhabited the body of whoever wore the helmet. Later revisions to continuity, like Crisis Of Infinite Earths (adapted for the CW Arrowverse) changed this, so Nabu was merely a mystical presence, available to guide the wearer if necessary.

A Powerful Sorcerer

With the combined power of the Amulet Of Anubis, Cloak Of Destiny, and Helmet of Fate, Nelson gained a tremendous array of mystical powers. Among them are illusion casting, invisibility, phasing, flight, levitation, astral projection, and many others.

Perhaps the most significant powers Doctor Fate possesses are interstellar and dimensional teleportation. Doctor Fate can walk between dimensions, which makes him an ideal candidate to explore the concept of the multiverse in upcoming DC movies like The Flash.

Justice Society Of America

Doctor Fate comics quickly capitalized on his success and he became a founding member of the original Justice Society Of America in 1940, in All-Star Comics #3. Though a major member of the team at the time, he left the team in 1944 and only made sporadic appearances in the comics after. Later comics expounded upon this era, revising elements of the JSA history here and there.

Changes made to DC continuity in Crisis On Infinite Earths, among the best DC Comics events ever, complicated the canonical status of the team. Subsequent revisions to DC history in the comics have since brought them back into mainstream continuity and Black Adam may attempt to address how they fit into DCEU history.

Fighting Wotan

Wotan counts among Doctor Fate’s most powerful villains, debuting alongside Doctor Fate in More Fun Comics #55 back in 1940. Wotan specializes in dark magic and also, at times, showed mastery in invention and engineering. Wotan also possesses considerable knowledge thanks to their long, long life.

Wotan began as a woman in prehistoric times. She learned magic to get revenge on her tribe, eventually learning how to transfer her soul into other bodies, extending her life indefinitely.

Infinite Versions Of Doctor Fate

Doctor Fate comics introduced many different versions of the character through different iterations of DC continuity. After Kent Nelson died, the talismans of Nabu fell to Eric and Linda Strauss, successively. Other characters to be Doctor Fate (sometimes just Fate) include Khalid Nassour, Khalid Ben-Hassin, Hector Hall, Kent V. Nelson, and others.

Black Adam appears to focus on Kent Nelson, but his age may suggest he is closer to the end of his career than the beginning. This may open the door to a new character taking up the mantle.

Doctor Chaos

A powerful Doctor Fate variant likely to appear in some form in live-action went down a darker path than Kurt Nelson. Bert Belker discovered the mystical helmet on Earth-2 but instead of containing Nabu’s power, it held the Lords of Chaos. This transformed Belker into an agent of Nabu’s sworn enemies.

The costume transposes Doctor Fate’s colors, with the helmet blue instead of yellow. Doctor Chaos’ appearances in recent comics and the DCEU’s embracing the multiverse may provide an opportunity for the character to appear.

Wonders Of The World

Another take on the Justice Society of America may appear in the DCEU. Doctor Fate joined the Wonders of the World in modern comics, which featured updated takes on major DC characters, including Val-Zod as Superman and Thomas Wayne as Batman. Together they fought in The Apokalips War, defending Earth from Darkseid.

Wonders of the World comics feature some similarities to storylines hinted at in the DCEU, including the concept that Superman becomes an agent of Darkseid, among the most powerful DC Comics villains.

Tower Of Fate

The best DC Comics superheroes all own a headquarters and Doctor Fate is no different. The Tower of Fate serves as the redoubt for all Doctor Fate variants and like the Sanctum Santorum exists as an intersection in magic. The interior often unfolds like an M.C. Escher painting and can only be navigated by the magically inclined.

The Tower of Fate contains many mystical texts and weapons, including Nabu’s helm. The Tower of Fate likely appears in the upcoming movie in some form given its importance in Doctor Fate comics.

The Fate Of Kingdom Come

A powerful Doctor Fate variant that the DCEU may introduce at some point first appeared in the seminal 1990s comic book series Kingdom Come. This version featured Nabu The Wise able to manifest through the Helmet and Cloak without the need for a living host. This gave him a spectral appearance that glowed bright yellow.

Doctor Fate sided with Batman in the epic clash between heroes in the story, trying to de-escalate an apocalyptic battle between newer, more ’extreme’ heroes like Magog and classical heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman. Both Black Adam and Shazam played sizable roles in the story.

Lords Of Order

Nabu, and consequently Doctor Fate, belongs to the Lords Of Order, beings of great mystical power that represent order in the universe. They are diametrically opposed to the Lords Of Chaos, whose ambition goes beyond their title. This concept came much later in Doctor Fate comics, first appearing in DC Special Series #10 in 1978.

The Lords of Order came into being with the Big Bang and established roots on Earth in ancient human history, potentially tying into Black Adam’s origins in the DCEU. Black Adam hails from ancient Egypt in the comics.

Lords Of Chaos

The Lords Of Chaos also came into existence with the universe’s beginning. They seek to bring about “kali yuga”, where chaos reigns supreme throughout existence. They first appeared in 1978 alongside their diametric opposites the Lords of Order, though their origin has changed substantially a few times since then.

Harley Quinn made an unlikely avatar for both the Lords of Order and Chaos in the best Harley Quinn comic books ever. Since she embodied traits associated with both, she entered a series of trials to become their representative, but she ultimately abandoned the idea.

Justice League Dark

Doctor Fate serves with the Justice Society in Black Adam and he may join another team in the DCEU. He joined Justice League Dark, specifically dedicated to handling mystical threats, during the Rebirth era in DC Comics. Wonder Woman led this team, composed of some of DC’s heaviest hitters in the magic department.

The team first came together in 2011, as part of the New 52 reboot of DC continuity. Other team members have included John Constantine, Madame Xanadu, Swamp Thing, Shade: The Changing Man, and Zatanna, who will be the subject of a movie written by Promising Young Woman writer and director Emerald Fennell.

Detective Chimp

Not every Doctor Fate comic book features life and death stakes. In the 2005 Days Of Vengeance crossover, the current Doctor Fate dies and leaves custody of the Helmet Of Fate to Detective Chimp. Chimp tries it on for size, but it won’t fit, so he has Shazam throw it into outer space. It eventually comes back, into the hands of Kent V. Nelson, the grandson of the original Doctor Fate.

Detective Chimp first appeared in 1959, at the dawn of the Silver Age, but his major interaction with Doctor Fate came decades later. He also joined Justice League Dark and could potentially appear in live-action if the team does.

Doctor Strangefate

Doctor Fate and Doctor Strange share some similarities in terms of power and appearance, as well as their ability to perceive and travel between different realities. Those shared traits were exploited in the 1990s when Marvel and DC joined forces for a unique crossover called Amalgam Comics.

This one-time event combined similar heroes and villains from both universes. Fate and Strange were mashed together into the form of Doctor Strangefate, with the added bonus of also being an amalgamation of Charles Xavier, Professor X. This made for arguably the most powerful sorcerer in both universes.