After years in development, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson’s Black Adam movie is finally going forward. A director has been hired, work is being done on a shooting script, and it’s set to arrive at multiplexes in 2021. The movie will be set in the DC Extended Universe, as the franchise is finally finding its feet, so its connective tissue is slowly being reintroduced.
Based on the fact that Superman gets his powers from Earth’s yellow sun, the case could be made that Black Adam is even more powerful than the Man of Steel. So, here are 5 Things That Have Been Confirmed About Black Adam (And 5 Fan Theories).
Confirmed: Dwayne Johnson is starring as Black Adam
This is Black Adam’s ace in the hole. While the character is relatively obscure outside of comic book readers, Dwayne Johnson is possibly the biggest movie star in the world right now. It doesn’t matter what movie he’s in – a video game adaptation about giant animals, a tongue-in-cheek Bayhem version of Baywatch, Die Hard meets The Towering Inferno – if Johnson’s in it, it’s almost guaranteed to be a hit. A Black Adam movie has been in and out of development for a decade, and throughout all that time, Johnson has remained attached to the project. He’s pretty passionate about making it happen.
Fan theory: The ending will set up Shazam! 2
Black Adam will technically be a spin-off of Shazam!, taking place in the same fictional universe. Shazam! made an indirect reference to Black Adam when the Wizard mentioned a previous superpowered champion of his who became evil and released the Seven Deadly Sins. He wasn’t named, but that’s Black Adam. DC has suggested that Black Adam’s upcoming solo movie is priming him for an appearance in the upcoming Shazam! sequel. So, there’s a chance that the Black Adam movie will end with a setup for Shazam! 2, either in its actual closing moments or in a mid- or post-credits scene.
Confirmed: Jaume Collet-Serra is in the director’s chair
The DCEU’s forthcoming Black Adam movie is set to be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. His most recent film is Jungle Cruise, a film based on a Disneyland ride that also stars Dwayne Johnson and will be released next summer. Collet-Serra has been known to maintain working relationships with actors, having helmed a grand total of four movies starring Liam Neeson: in chronological order, Unknown, Non-Stop, Run All Night, and The Commuter (which was basically Non-Stop with a plane switched out for a train). He also directed The Shallows, which saw Blake Lively face off against a bloodthirsty great white shark.
Fan theory: Black Adam will assemble the Seven Deadly Sins
In the comics, one of Shazam’s most sinister enemies is the Seven Deadly Sins, a team of supervillains inspired by the eponymous Biblical principle (Envy, Greed, Gluttony, Lust, Pride, Sloth, Wrath), and in Shazam’s standalone movie earlier this year, it was suggested that Black Adam had released the Seven Deadly Sins.
So, perhaps in his solo movie, we’ll see his backstory in which he supposedly got his powers from the Wizard, turned evil, and assembled the Seven Deadly Sins to do his morally iffy bidding. A movie in which the Justice Society of America goes to war with the Seven Deadly Sins would be awesome.
Confirmed: It’ll be released on December 22, 2021
Dwayne Johnson has announced that Black Adam will be shooting throughout the summer of 2020 in time for its slated release on December 22, 2021. In the same month, Black Adam will face competition from the third movie in Robert Downey, Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes franchise, James Cameron’s long-awaited sequel to 2009’s sci-fi blockbuster Avatar, a big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked, the fourth installment in the warmly received Hotel Transylvania franchise, and Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio’s upcoming crime epic, Killers of the Flower Moon. Beverly Hills Cop 4 is also coming out that month, but Netflix is releasing it, so it won’t pose a threat at the box office.
Fan theory: The character won’t be a villain
When the Rock signs on to make a new movie, his team ensures that the character he’s playing is on-brand and featured prominently. This is why his Fast & Furious character started off as a one-time antagonist and ended up being the secondary protagonist with an abundance of Taylor Swift references and his own spin-off movie. It seems odd that he would join the DCEU as a villain, since villains are unlikable and receive less exposure than heroes. Maybe in the Black Adam movie, the title character won’t be a villain, but will rather follow a redemption arc and become a hero.
Confirmed: It has the same cinematographer as Joker
Since the Black Adam movie has been officially announced to be moving forward, Dwayne Johnson has announced on social media that the movie’s cinematographer will be Lawrence Sher. Sher recently shot Todd Phillips’ Joker, and with that movie being praised by critics, receiving plenty of Oscar buzz, and shattering box office records, DC is clearly impressed with Sher’s work. He’s filmed all kinds of movies, from big-budget sci-fi blockbusters like Godzilla: King of the Monsters to more soulful indie fare like Zach Braff’s Garden State to blockbuster studio comedies like Due Date and The Hangover trilogy (also directed by Phillips).
Fan theory: Black Adam will fight Superman
Unlike Joker, DC Films has been very forthright about Black Adam’s place in the wider DC Extended Universe. It’s a spin-off of sorts to Shazam!, which featured a cameo appearance by Superman. Henry Cavill’s ongoing contractual disputes over the role of Clark Kent have intensified recently, which could be a sign that there’s an on-screen role for Supes in an upcoming DCEU project.
Since fans are dying to see Superman fight Black Adam – one of the only DC characters whose powers can match that of the last son of Krypton – the latter’s solo movie could feature such a set-piece.
Confirmed: The story will introduce the Justice Society of America in the DCEU
After the tremendous failure of Justice League, Warner Bros. took a break from the interconnected nature of the DC Extended Universe. The studio rushed into it, cramming in too many connections too soon and neglecting to make us actually care about the characters first. As a result, it paled in comparison to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and promptly crashed and burned. Now that DC has found unexpected success with less connected movies and built up a library of lucrative franchises, that interconnectivity is going to be reintroduced. Dwayne Johnson has confirmed that in Black Adam, “We will introduce you to…the world to JSA.”
Fan theory: Shazam will have a cameo appearance
During the press tour for Jumanji: The Next Level, when Screen Rant asked Dwayne Johnson if Shazam would be making an appearance in the Black Adam movie, the actor said, “Without giving too much away, it’s not in the plans right now…Now, not to say Shazam isn’t on my radar. Of course Shazam is, but so is all of DC.” It seems like the movie is still being ironed out, without a complete script, so while Shazam isn’t featured in the movie in its current form – or, at least, that’s what Johnson tells us – we can’t discount the chance that Zachary Levi’s Shazam will have a cameo at some point.
