You may have heard of Black Adam, the DC antagonist who typically shows up (in the comics) to be the stand-in bad guy for Shazam. Well, he’s getting a movie, years after it was originally confirmed.
What’s the deal with this flick? Why is a character that is typically set up as a villain being given his own movie? We’ve got answers to all your burning questions below. OK maybe not all of them, but a few of them.
And we now have a trailer.
Black Adam trailers
This is the official trailer for Black Adam, released on June 9. We got a pretty good look at what the plot will be, centring around Black Adam’s struggle with being a hero. The Justice Society of America is also here. Fun!
Earlier this year, DC has released a sizzle reel for some upcoming films, including snaps from the Black Adam movie.
We also have this teaser for Black Adam.
What is Black Adam about?
Black Adam is a story of the titular hero, what he did for Kahndaq (an ancient state in the Middle East filled with magic and wonder) and his return to the modern world after being imprisoned for thousands of years. He’s less about world conquest and is more about protecting Kahndaq, no matter the cost.
The film itself is technically a spinoff to Shazam!, which involves a storyline that meshes with Black Adam (an ancient superhero coming to the modern-day). In the comics, he was mostly portrayed as a villain, however more recent incarnations have portrayed the character as more of an antagonist. We might see Shazam appear in the film, but no confirmation just yet. Actually, the film seems to be tonally quite different to Shazam!
Plot-wise, it looks like the movie will mostly focus on Black Adam’s struggle with being a hero, happy to kill people while other heroes don’t typically do that (everybody forget about Ben Affleck’s Batman). We will see heroes from the Justice Society of America, such as Doctor Fate, Atom Smasher and Hawkman, as stand-in ideal heroes that are at odds with Black Adam. They’re the diet coke version of the Justice League, although Doctor Fate is very cool.
How does this movie fit into the DCEU?
This movie is a part of the DCEU, the same universe where Shazam!, Justice League and Aquaman take place.
That being said, Black Adam’s actor (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson) has said that the film is a new start to the DC universe. If this is the case, we welcome it with open arms, but it doesn’t look all that different from other DC films.
It’s also separate from Joker and The Batman.
Who will star in Black Adam?
The titular hero will be played by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Adrianna Tomaz (also Isis, the love interest of Black Adam) will be played by Sarah Shahi.
Doctor Fate will be played by Pierce Brosnan, Hawkman will be played by Aldis Hodge and Atom Smasher will be played by Noah Centineo. Quintessa Swindell will play Cyclone.
Additionally, James Cusati-Moyer, Uli Latukefu and Marwan Kenzari are set to appear.
Black Adam release date
Black Adam is expected to hit theatres on October 20, after being delayed from its original July release. The film has been stuck in development hell for 15 years now, so hopefully, it’ll finally come out at the end of this year.
Make sure you check out our article on every major sci-fi, fantasy, thriller, horror and adventure flick hitting cinemas in 2022.