“The hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change.”
So Dwayne Johnson has said of his entrance into a universe that includes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and The Suicide Squad, and during Saturday’s DC FanDome panel for Black Adam, he doubled down on exactly how big a deal the arrival of Black Adam is.
“As we all know, superheroes have to exhibit a little bit of restraint in taking care of the bad guys,” he teased. “[Black Adam] does not practice restraint. That combination makes him explosive, very dangerous and very likable, at least to me.”
Occasionally appearing in the comics as a straight-up villain for Shazam, Black Adam received his powers from a wizard just as Billy Batson would. Recently, DC has leaned into Adam as an antihero out for vengeance. “He’s a ruthless keeper of justice,” Johnson said. “He is the judge, the jury and executioner.”
Here’s a sizzle reel of how Black Adam’s origin story will look in the movie.
Helmed by Johnson’s Jungle Cruise director Jaume Collet-Serra, Black Adam marks the not-so-superhero’s first appearance on the big screen. Johnson will be joined by Noah Centineo, who is confirmed to play Atom Smasher.
“Al — his real name, Al Rothstein — really has something to prove,” Centineo teased. “His grandfather was kind of a villain. What I love about the character is he goes through this transformation… Because this is his first mission, it’s this journey that he goes on of what it means to be a superhero.”
“And I don’t mind being the size of the Empire State Building,” he added. “That would be tight.”
Atom Smasher is only one member of the movie’s Justice Society of America, which will also comprise Hawkman, Doctor Fate and Cyclone, though the roles have yet to be cast.
Ahead of Saturday’s DC FanDome, Johnson took to his socials to preview an early look at his take on Black Adam. “You’ve waited long enough. As have I, thousands of years to be exact,” he wrote. “The man in black comes to crush them all.”
Black Adam lands in theaters on Dec. 22, 2021.
