Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's titular anti-hero and Aldis Hodge's Hawkman duke it out in a new promo for Warner Bros. and DC Films' Black Adam.
The promo shows Black Adam squaring off against the Justice Society of America (JSA) after they attempt to negotiate a peaceful surrender with Hawkman backed by Pierce Brosnan's Dr. Fate. The promo also teases Black Adam's dark origin story and shows the antihero using his powers against Hawkman in a battle against the JSA.
The film will see the JSA attempt to contain Black Adam per orders of Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), who has previously appeared in the DC Extended Universe in 2016's Suicide Squad and its 2021 sequel. In a previous interview, Hodge promised that the JSA would be a refreshing new superhero team for the DCEU. "Honestly, don't put [the JSA] 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," Hodge said, calling it "a whole new experience."
Black Adam Levels Hawkman
Black Adam will mark the DCEU debut of the JSA, with this version of the superhero team consisting of Hawkman (Hodge), Dr. Fate (Brosnan), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell). The demonic DC villain Sabbac will also appear as the film's antagonist and is rumored to be portrayed by Marwan Kenzari, who recently played Jafar in Guy Ritchie's Aladdin.
While the JSA won't be like other superhero teams for the DCEU, Johnson has also claimed that Black Adam will introduce a new kind of anti-hero to the universe. "What makes Black Adam unique and different is that he lives by a code," he said. "If you attempt to harm his people, his family, his country, or him, he will rip you in half." He added, "He will literally grab you by the neck, and then grab you by the thigh, and rip your body into two pieces."
Written by Sohrab Noshirvani, Rory Haines, and Adam Sztykiel and directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, Black Adam is a spinoff of 2019's Shazam! and was originally scheduled to release in December 2020. The film officially began production in April 2021 following delays caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Black Adam, who was created in 1945 by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck, was originally a major enemy of Shazam, and the two characters were originally intended to share a DCEU movie. However, Johnson changed this outcome with some persuasion, with each hero receiving their own standalone films.
Black Adam will be released in theaters on Oct. 21.
Source: YouTube