The Justice League may be DC Comics’ most famous superhero team, but it wasn’t the first group of crimefighters to form in this corner of superhero publishing history. That honor belongs to the Justice Society of America, which debuted in Winter 1940-1941’s All-Star Comics #3, and in recent years the team has been getting a lot more attention outside of comics, most notably on The CW series Stargirl. Now the JSA will finally make its theatrical debut in Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam movie, and Pierce Brosnan, who plays one of the team’s key members, recently took the time to hype up their upcoming appearance.
Pierce Brosnan stars in Black Adam as Kent Nelson, a.k.a. Doctor Fate, one of the DC Universe’s most powerful magic users. While promoting his latest movie, Amazon’s Cinderella, Brosnan was asked by Collider if he had some freedom to make this version of Doctor Fate his own, and here’s how the actor responded:
Oh, very much so. It’s an ensemble piece, Black Adam. You have Dwayne, who’s at the pinnacle of his fame and fortune and success and popularity. He is magnificent as Black Adam. We are the Justice Society and there’s four of us, so we became a strong quartet of actors. The writing was very good. There was just enough beats. You just want three good beats. If you have three good scenes to hang your hat and your heart on, then you can make something of your days. For me, Black Adam had that, and Cinderella had it, in its own specific way.
It sounds like the Justice Society of America will have plenty of time to shine in Black Adam, and that one member won’t outshine the other. Though despite Pierce Brosnan classifying Black Adam as an ensemble piece, make no mistake that Dwayne Johnson will be front and center of this DC Extended Universe offering, as we watch how his title character gained his powers millennia ago and witness him reawakening in the present day. Still, considering that the JSA has existed for over eight decades now, it’s about time that this group finally received a big screen platform.
Anyway, so who’s joining Pierce Brosnan’s Doctor Fate in Black Adam? That will be Aldis Hodge’s Hawkman, Quintessa Swindell’s Cyclone and Noah Centineo’s Atom Smasher. Hawkman and Doctor Fate were two of the JSA’s founding members in the comics, while Cyclone and Atom Smasher are among the “newer” heroes who’ve been added to the lineup over the last several decades. It’s unclear if the DCEU’s version of the JSA will have any ties to World War II like its comics counterpart or if its members have solely operated in contemporary times. It also remains to be seen why the JSA will clash with Black Adam, although considering he likes to dispense justice with a lethal touch, it’s easy enough to understand why they’d ideologically disagree.
Black Adam’s cast also includes Sarah Shahi as Adrianna Tomaz, a university professor and resistance fighter in the title character’s home country of Kahndaq; comics fans might better know the character as Isis. Marwan Kenzari, James Cusati-Moyer, Bodhi Sabongui, Mo Amer and Uli Latukefu have also been cast in yet-to-be-revealed roles, and the criminal organization Intergang will somehow factor into the plot. Behind the scenes, Pierce Brosnan and the other actors were directed by Jungle Cruise’s Jaume Collet-Serra, and Adam Sztykiel and Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani.
Assuming it isn’t pushed back again, Black Adam will hit theaters on July 29, 2022, the same day that Indiana Jones 5 opens. While we wait for more updates about the DCEU movie, learn what else will play on the big screen next year by perusing our 2022 release schedule.
