To say it’s been a long wait to see Dwayne Johnson play Black Adam is an understatement, as The Rock has been connected to the role for well over a decade, even before the DC Extended Universe was a thing. Well, we’re just several months away from finally seeing Johnson bringing the anti-hero to life, and at the beginning of June, the first Black Adam trailer dropped, giving us a taste of both the eponymous character’s ruthlessness and the involvement of the Justice Society of America. Now a batch of footage has arrived straight from San Diego Comic-Con (following on the heels of the Shazam! Fury of the Gods trailer) spotlighting even more action, specifically showing Black Adam clashing with the superhero team.
Black Adam director Jaume Collet-Serra has made it clear that neither Superman not Shazam will appear in this DC movie, although that’s not to say such crossovers couldn’t happen in the future. For now though, Dwayne Johnson’s character will have his hands full with the Justice Society, whose members in the DCEU include Aldis Hodge’s Hawkman, Noah Centineo’s Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell’s Cyclone and Pierce Brosnan’s Doctor Fate. Although the JSA has previously appeared in the live-action TV shows Smallville, Legends of Tomorrow and Stargirl, just like with Black Adam, this movie marks their theatrical debut.
After quick teases of Black Adam’s life thousands of years ago that hit the same beats we got in the first trailer, we get into the meat of this preview, with the title antihero duking it out with the Justice Society. While we still don’t know yet what specifically brings the team into conflict with Black Adam, there’s clearly differing ideology in how to battle the bad guys, as we’ve heard Hawkman express his disapproval before about how Black Adam kills (a lot of) people. Well, something is to lead to these popular DC characters rumbling, and from the looks of it, Black Adam isn’t breaking a sweat handling Hawkman, Atom Smasher, Cyclone and Doctor Fate on his own.
Now here’s something that wasn’t shown in the Black Adam Comic-Con footage, but CinemaBlend’s own Eric Eisenberg learned at the Hall H presentation. Following her outings as Amanda Waller in Suicide Squad, The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, Viola Davis is reprising the role in Black Adam. Now the Justice Society is quite a different team from Task Force X, so it’s extremely unlikely that Hawkman, Atom Smasher, Cyclone and Doctor Fate are being forced by Waller to battle Black Adam because there are micro-bombs in their bodies. That said, perhaps Waller is the one who tips the JSA off to Black Adam causing trouble. Still, knowing her, she surely has an ulterior motive. I’d even bet on her being the one responsible for Black Adam ending up in that containment pod.
Black Adam lands in theaters on October 21, so continue visiting CinemaBlend for more updates about the movie. Those looking further ahead into the future should look through the lineup of upcoming DC movies.
