Black Adam star Aldis Hodge, who plays Hawkman in the upcoming DCEU film, talks about how his character and Pierce Brosnan's Doctor Fate will have a friendship in the movie. After nearly a decade since he was cast as Black Adam, 2022 will finally see mega-star Dwayne Johnson join the DCEU. Initially, the Shazam! movie was going to feature Black Adam, but Johnson convinced Warner Bros. to instead let the two characters have their own respective films.
While Black Adam is traditionally known as Shazam's arch nemesis, the DCEU will take a different route in his solo film. For his live-action debut, Johnson's Black Adam is being reimagined as an anti-hero, whose origin story begins with him being a Kahndaq slave before receiving his godlike powers. With Black Adam being the morally grey hero, he will clash with some traditional superheroes in the form of the Justice Society of America. For the DCEU's iteration of the Golden Age team, Black Adam's Justice Society of America consists of Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone, and Atom Smasher.
With Black Adam set to arrive in theaters next month, the marketing campaign has kicked into overtime. At a recent Black Adam press event, Screen Rant chatted with Hodge. With Black Adam going toe-to-toe with the JSA, Hodge teases that one of the members will act as "as a conscience" for Hawkman throughout the story. Without giving away too many details, Hodge shares how Hawkman and Brosnan's Doctor Fate will have a bond, stating the following:
"The JSA… we are finding ourselves in camaraderie and, to a degree, finding ourselves [as a] family. With Dr. Fate [and Hawkman], that's a long, long friendship. There's a lot of love there. There's a real brotherhood there. And they're [asking] what is the right thing to do [about Black Adam]? Because Dr. Fate is sort of like a conscience for Hawkman.
Honestly, don't put us up against any of the other teams that we've seen before, because this is a very much refreshing new look at what a superhero team is, as we come together into this space. You know, it's a whole new experience. So I think that that's what you're going to enjoy the most about it."
The Hawkman and Doctor Fate relationship in Black Adam isn't the first to arrive in live-action. In Smallville season 9, the Superman prequel series had a big two-part event called "Absolute Justice" that marked the introduction of the Golden Age of heroes into that universe. That version of the team also featured Hawkman and Doctor Fate, played by Michael Shanks and Brent Stait, respectively. The Smallville iterations of the heroes also had a similar bond where Doctor Fate was the conscience for the remaining JSA members, with Hawkman having deep affection for him.
Based on Hodge's comments regarding the DCEU's Hawkman and Doctor Fate, it sounds like Black Adam is definitely going that route as well, which has even been teased a bit in the trailers. Depending on where the JSA goes in Black Adam, the film could pave the way for the team to have a bigger role in the franchise going forward. With Black Adam spinoff projects already being considered, a film or even an HBO Max series would be great to see for the iconic team, as they could get even deeper into the mythology and flesh out the new DCEU players. Hopefully, Black Adam will be a huge success that not only gets a sequel greenlit, but also sets up the JSA's future for years to come.
