Black Adam: Dwayne Johnson Teases DC Hero Cameos

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has confirmed that he is still committed to the Black Adam film being planned for Warner Bros' DC Extended Universe. Unfortunately, due to his busy schedule, filming will not start until late 2019, at the earliest.

First appearing in The Marvel Family #1 in 1945, Black Adam was originally established as the nemesis of the hero now called Shazam. Blessed by the same magical lightning bolt that granted the power of the ancient gods, Black Adam had originally been an Egyptian prince named Teth-Adam and hero to his people before becoming corrupted by his own power. A later retelling of Black Adam's origins changed his backstory significantly, with Teth-Adam now hailing from the fictional Middle Eastern country of Khandaq and his corruption coming from his spirit being forced to bond with his evil descendant, Theo Adam. Though he enforced a harsher style of justice than the modern world preferred, Black Adam joined the Justice Society of America for a time, before claiming rulership of Khandaq and promising to limit his future heroism to protecting his homeland.

Dwayne Johnson spoke about the upcoming film in an interview with German entertainment site FilmStarts (translated by ComingsSoon). Johnson also ran through all the projects on his plate and everything he has to complete before filming on Black Adam can begin. Johnson said:

"Early next year right now it looks like I’m going to be shooting Jumanji, and then after that if everything goes well I’ll shoot a movie called Red Notice with Rawson Thurber again, with Gal Gadot, and another actor yet to be named. But Black Adam possibly at the end of next year. It’s coming along great, the script is coming along great we’re very happy with it."

Johnson was just as quick to discuss the possibilities offered by the Black Adam film in terms of expanding the DC Extended Universe as he was to praise the work on the script. Johnson claims there's a good chance that more than one or two DC Comics heroes might have cameos in Black Adam. It's also possible that some heroes who haven't appeared in the movies yet might make their first cinematic appearances in Black Adam. Johnson said:

"Without giving anything away, there MIGHT be maybe a cameo or two of some of the other DC superheroes. We’ll see. That’s been the beauty of Black Adam as we’ve been developing it is that we could make a movie that just stood on its own too as well, but that’s also the beauty of those universes coming together at DC."

It remains to be seen if Black Adam will be appearing in any earlier DC Extended Universe movies before his solo film hits the big screen. It seems unlikely, given Johnson's busy shooting schedule and early reports that he would not be appearing in the Shazam! movie, which would seem the most likely place to introduce the character. Nevertheless, rumors persist that Black Adam may briefly appear in Suicide Squad 2 and that a reference may be made to the character, even if he does not make an actual appearance, in the upcoming Aquaman movie.