If you thought we’ve been waiting a long time for The Flash to arrive, just look at Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam’s journey. In the late 2000s, The Rock was in talks to play the character in a different incarnation of the Shazam! movie, and he’s been officially attached as Black Adam in the DCEU since fall 2014. Well, after years of development, the Black Adam solo film is finally about to begin filming, and this feels extra real thanks to some newly-emerged set photos.
While we’re still a few weeks away from Black Adam kicking off principal photography, other areas of the production process are well underway, such as set construction. Take a look below at one of the sets that’s being put together (via Black Adam Updates):
This building set is still a ways off from being completed, but if I had to guess, this will serve as an ancient Khandaqian building once everything is in its proper place. Just like his comic book counterpart, Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam was once known as Teth-Adam, and concept art shown at DC FanDome last year confirmed that this version of the character was also enslaved in Kahndaq millennia ago. The Black Adam movie is expected to delve into how Teth-Adam gained his mighty abilities from the Wizard Shazam, which was teased in 2019’s Shazam!.
But Black Adam won’t simply serve as an origin story for the eponymous character. He’ll also collide with the Justice Society of America, a superhero team that’s been around since 1940 and is finally making its theatrical debut. In the DCEU, the JSA’s lineup consists of Aldis Hodge’s Hawkman, Noah Centineo’s Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell’s Cyclone and a yet-to-be-identified actor playing Doctor Fate. Sarah Shahi and Marwan Kenzari have also been cast in undisclosed roles, though I suspect Shahi has been cast as Adrianna Tomaz, a.k.a. Isis.
The original plan for Black Adam in the DCEU was to pit him against the superpowered Billy Batson in Shazam!, but it was later decided the character was worthy of starring in his own movie first. As such, Doctor Sivana was used as Shazam!’s main antagonist instead, and while not confirmed yet, the movie’s mid-credits scene set the stage for Mark Strong’s character allying himself with Mister Mind, who would make quite the nefarious duo for Shazam! Fury of the Gods. It remains unclear when Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam and Zachary Levi’s Shazam will finally clash, although two years ago, Levi speculated it could happen in Shazam! 3.
Dwayne Johnson has certainly been going the extra mile to hype people up for Black Adam, from updating fans on how his training for the movie is going to even sharing the first page of the script. After years of being one of Hollywood’s most popular action stars, The Rock is finally getting to contribute to the superhero movie landscape by playing a character he’s clearly passionate about. With shooting about to commence, fingers crossed we’ll get our first look at Johnson wearing the Black Adam costume soon.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who previously worked with Dwayne Johnson on Jungle Cruise, Black Adam was once supposed to come out in December 2021, but now it’s undated. Obviously we’ll let you know when a new release date is assigned, but for now, keep track of other DCEU projects on the way with our upcoming DC movies guide.
