Black Adam is ramping up production and has been drip-feeding exciting cast announcements for the past couple of months.
The latest? Hawkman himself has been cast as The Invisible Man star, Aldis Hodge.
Black Adam will be Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s entry into the DC Extended Universe and if the recent teasers from DC Fandome are anything to go by, he will certainly be making quite the impact when the movie finally lands.
We suspected a Black Adam movie would be on its way fairly soon after the release of Zachary Levi’s Shazam, which featured a couple of nods towards the man himself.
Here’s everything we currently know about DC’s Black Adam, which is currently in the early stages of production.
When is Black Adam released in cinemas?
Black Adam is currently scheduled for release on 22nd December 2021, but this date could very well be moved in the coming months due to complications stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.
Originally expected to start filming in the summer of this year, cameras are no longer expected to start rolling until early 2021, which wouldn’t give visual effects teams much time to polish those all-important action sequences.
We’ll keep this page up to date with Black Adam release information as it comes in.
What is Black Adam about?
Black Adam is the long-awaited solo movie for one of DC’s most popular antiheroes.
His origin, as told in Jerry Ordway’s 1994 story The Power of Shazam!, reveals Black Adam was born thousands of years ago in the fictional Middle Eastern country of Kahndaq.
Born “Teth-Adam”, son of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II, he was rewarded with incredible powers bestowed on him by the high priest and wizard, Shazam.
However, when Black Adam is corrupted by the demon Blaze, who brings out a power-hungry side to his personality, Shazam punishes him by stripping him of his powers and sealing them in a scarab.
The character was later resurrected in the present day, initially to serve as a fearsome arch-enemy to Billy Batson (played by Zachary Levi in 2019’s Shazam!), but gradually taking on more antihero qualities as he develops.
Expect the Black Adam movie to explore this origin story, but that’s not all; in a major addition to the DC Extended Universe, the upcoming blockbuster will also introduce the Justice Society of America.
The superhero team actually predates the Justice League, but aren’t quite as well known due to their location in a parallel universe known simply as Earth-2.
Speaking to Collider, producer Hiram Garcia said: “We are so excited to introduce the Justice Society, especially Hawkman who’s such a beloved character and one of those heroes who’s always meant so much to the DC universe.
“When you take a powerhouse like Black Adam and inject him into this DC cinematic universe you want to make sure you are putting characters around him that can really up the stakes.
“As DJ likes to say, the hierarchy of power in the DC universe really is going to change, so Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Atom Smasher and Cyclone will have their hands full no matter how we choose to have them interact with Black Adam.”
Who is in the cast of Black Adam?
There isn’t a huge amount in the way of casting details just yet, aside from Dwayne Johnson in the lead role.
The former WWE star has been circling the characters of Black Adam and Shazam for many years, ultimately settling on the former due to his unpredictably rebellious nature.
Noah Centineo has also been confirmed as Atom Smasher, a DC Comics superhero capable of manipulating his size and strength, growing up to 60 feet tall at will.
Variety confirmed Aldis Hodge (The Invisible Man, One Night in Miami) will star as Hawkman in the upcoming blockbuster.
Hawkman appeared in the DC universe in 1940, but until now, hasn’t ever appeared in any films – until Black Adam.
He usually appears with large (artificial) wings which allows him to soar. He is often depicted as human archeologist, Carter Hall – or alien counterpart, Katar Hol.
Expect more casting announcements soon, particularly as we now know exactly which JSA members will be debuting in the film.
There has been much speculation over which existing DC heroes could appear in Black Adam, with Shazam and Superman among the most heavily rumoured.
Is Black Adam a sequel to Shazam?
Not exactly. Given their comic book history, it stands to reason that the Black Adam and Shazam movie franchises will be relatively closely connected.
However, Black Adam will not serve as a direct sequel to 2019’s Shazam! movie, and it seems that Dwayne Johnson’s antihero won’t be crossing paths with his scarlet-clad nemesis for some time.
Zachary Levi said at CCXP Cologne Convention last summer: “I can say that as far as I know, Black Adam is not going to be in the second Shazam!, because the idea is that they want to go and do a standalone Black Adam movie first.”
“And then it would kind of be, if we do a third Shazam! and a second Black Adam… that’s where we would [meet]. Because he’s like the ultimate bad guy for Captain Marvel / Shazam.”
Is there a Black Adam trailer?
Not just yet. If filming does start in early 2021, we could perhaps expect a teaser trailer next summer.
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