New footage for Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam movie shows the brutal aspects of the iconic DC Comics anti-hero. For nearly a decade, Johnson has been attached to bring Black Adam to life, as this would be the character's debut in live-action. While a Black Adam solo film has been in development for quite some time, it wasn't until 2021 that principal photography got underway. After years of waiting, fans will finally see Johnson join the DCEU as he takes the famous Shazam baddie and tackles him from an anti-hero perspective.
Black Adam will follow the origin story of how Teth-Adam becomes the DC legend that fans know and love from the comics. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, the DCEU picture will also mark as the cinematic debut of the iconic superhero team Justice Society of America. Members like Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone, and Atom-Smasher will be showing up in Black Adam as they cross paths with Johnson's titular character. Originally slated for July 29, Black Adam got pushed back to October 21, as it and several DCEU films had to scramble their release dates due to the heavy VFX work that still needed to be completed.
With Black Adam being less than six months away from hitting theaters, Warner Bros. is getting fans prepared for Johnson's DCEU debut. Warner Bros. was one of the studios to take part in this year's CinemaCon event, which is currently taking place in Las Vegas. Screen Rant was present to watch brand new footage for Black Adam, which includes some brutal elements of the anti-hero's journey. Check out the full description below:
"A ship flies over ice as Adam is put in stasis. There are shots of him as a slave before being 'reborn as a god.' Adam says, 'I kneel before no one.' Doctor Fate says, 'I've seen the future. Either you [Black Adam] will destroy this world or be its savior.' The footage cuts to Adam walking through a desert, and someone shoots a rocket at him. He catches the rocket and it explodes. He survives but looks pissed as electricity crackles around him. The footage also includes shots of the JSA in action. Atom Smasher is in his giant form and runs down the street. The Hawkman shot from the original trailer is shown. Cyclone is seen inside a ship, before cutting to more quick shots. Someone says, 'Heroes don't kill people,' while Adam replies, 'Well, I do.' Then he punches a guy so hard the person flies high into the air, disappears, and dies."
While Johnson is headlining the film, Black Adam has quite a big cast of characters that will be seen in the DCEU project. With the Justice Society attached, Black Adam also stars Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, and Pierce Brosnan as Kent Nelson, a.k.a. Doctor Fate. Johnson's solo film will also include Sarah Shahi as DC Comics' Adrianna Tomaz, who is a university professor and also one of Kahndaq's resistance fighters. The villainous DC group Intergang is also confirmed to appear in Black Adam, which becomes the organization's first depiction cinematically.
With the massive hype around Black Adam, it will be interesting to see where Warner Bros. takes the character after his first film. Having a global star like Johnson attached definitely means they will utilize him in future DCEU projects. Depending on how Black Adam is received, it could be the next DCEU property that HBO Max tries to develop spinoff projects for, with the JSA as a primary option. It will also be intriguing to follow Black Adam's journey after his debut, as it's likely only a matter of time before he and Zachary Levi's Shazam square off.
Source: Warner Bros.
