With the hero formerly known as Captain Marvel finally making his theatrical debut last year, the Shazam! corner of the DC Extended Universe will expand soon with Black Adam, starring Dwayne Johnson as the eponymous protagonist. Last year, Johnson revealed that the Justice Society of America will appear in Black Adam, and now word’s come in on who will be playing one of the superhero team’s members, Hawkman.
City on the Hill and The Invisible Man star Aldis Hodge is currently in final negotiations to play Hawkman in Black Adam, according to THR. Hodge’s other notable credits include Leverage (he’ll also return for the show’s revival), Turn: Washington’s Spies, Underground, Straight Outta Compton and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.
Last month at DC FanDome, it was revealed during the Black Adam panel that the movie’s Justice Society lineup would consist of Hawkman, Atom Smasher, Doctor Fate and Cyclone. We already knew at that point that To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before star Noah Centineo will be playing Atom Smasher, and assuming both sides come to an agreement, it looks like Aldis Hodge will be the first cinematic Hawkman, leaving Doctor Fate and Cyclone left to be cast.
Hawkman has one of the more complicated backstories in DC Comics canon, but presumably Black Adam will feature the Carter Hall incarnation, who debuted in the comics in 1940’s Flash Comics #1 and was one of the founding members of the Justice Society of America. Carter was originally an ancient Egyptian prince named Khufu, but in the following millennia, he and his lover Chay-Ara have been reincarnated in numerous forms and eventually learn about their past lives. In modern times, they’re known as Carter and Shiera Hall, with Shiera donning the Hawkgirl mantle. Both are able to fly thanks to a special harness made from the alien element known as Nth metal.
While there were originally plans to include Hawkgirl in Black Adam, she ended up being replaced by Cyclone for yet-to-be-revealed reasons. So Hawkman will be the only winged superhero in the upcoming DC movie, but considering the complicated and oftentimes antagonistic relationship he and Black Adam had during Geoff Johns’ JSA comic book run, hopefully we’ll get a similar dynamic between the two characters on the big screen.
No specific Black Adam plot details have been disclosed yet, but judging by the concept art shared at DC FanDome, it looks like Black Adam will cross paths with Hawkman and the rest of the Justice Society in the present day. We’ll also look back to ancient times (it’s unclear if this will be in Egypt or the fictional Kahndaq) to learn how the man known as Teth-Adam obtained his powers, which was teased in Shazam!.
Behind the cameras, Jaume Collet-Serra, who’s already worked with Dwayne Johnson on Jungle Cruise, is directing, and Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani wrote the latest draft, with Undatable’s Adam Sztykiel having previously worked on the script. Since Johnson is still shooting the Netflix movie Red Notice, the plan is for Black Adam to begin principal photography in early 2021.
Black Adam is currently slated to drop on December 22, 2021, though if that date ends up changing, we here at CinemaBlend will let you know. For now, look through our handy guide detailing the other DC Comics movies that are coming down the creative pipeline, and you can check out Aldis Hodge’s latest movie, Magic Camp, on Disney+.
