Dwayne Johnson brings the thunder in first Black Adam trailer
Dwayne Johnson's super-antihero movie finally comes to theaters in October
Aux News Black Adam
DC and Warner Bros. have been teasing little bits of footage from director Jaume Collet-Serra’s Black Adam since last year, showing off Dwayne Johnson’s eponymous superhero as he brutally electrocutes some poor jerk to death… because Black Adam isn’t really a superhero at all.
He was originally a straight-up villain, the bad guy inversion of Shazam (a.k.a. Captain Marvel, but nobody uses that name for him anymore for some reason) like Venom or the Reverse Flash or whichever variation of that trope you prefer, but for far much more of his history he’s been an antihero who just wants to do whatever he thinks his best for Kahndaq—the fictional Middle Eastern/African nation he calls home. Naturally, that often involves electrocuting people to death with a scary version of Shazam’s powers, which, to the uninitiated, seems like something a bad guy would do.
Well, today Warner Bros. released the first proper trailer for Black Adam, giving us a better chance to see just what kind of a guy this bad guy really is.
“I was slave until I died,” Johnson says in trailer. “Then I was reborn a god. My son sacrificed his life to save me—now, I kneel before no one.”
Black Adam, which is technically a part of the DCEU and technically a spin-off of Shazam! (they get their powers from the same wizard), stars Johnson as Black Adam, Noah Centineo as Justice Society Of America member Atom Smasher, Aldis Hodge as the JSA’s Hawkman, Sarah Shahi as Adrianna Tomaz, Quintessa Swindell as JSA member Cyclone, and Pierce Brosnan as mystical archeologist Doctor Fate. Uli Latukefu, who plays one of the young Rocks on Young Rock, will also appear in the movie.
After what feels like years and years of delays (but that’s just because Dwayne Johnson has been talking about playing Black Adam since before Shazam! came out way back in 2019), Black Adam will be in theaters on October 21.
66 Comments
Unless they are covering up the eventual twist where Black Adam turns heel and aims to become a tyrant, this looks generic and like total ass.
On the other hand: Dr. Fate in a live action movie!WB will probably totally screw the pooch here but I’m gonna go out to see it just because of Fate.
Dr. Fate is like my 3rd favorite superdoctor guy.
Ahh yes, El Kabong’s name after he got his doctorate!Dr Doom>Dr BONG>Dr Fate
If you told me one of Howard the Ducks archenemies from the 70s was named Doctor Bong, I would have not assumed it was because he had a bell shaped head that goes “BONG” when he hits it
I like to think there was a little wordplay going on.
Gerber couldn’t be that direct.
Its a shame the DC movies and shows do not cross over because I want the Chief and Doctor Fate to meet and be like “Don’t I know you?”
I would watch the hell out of that.
Hell. Yes. I will also watch this only to see live-action Dr Fate.
I hope DC continues to use more obscure characters in films (any of the JSA—Mr Terrific, Hourman, Spectre, Dr Midnight, for example). Because they’re not the most familiar characters they can basically do whatever they want with the characters & story. And I would watch all of them.
Yeah that’s one of the fun things about Stargirl.
Generic isn’t exactly the word I’d use to describe it, but it does sort of look like 15 other comic book properties smashed together. I know people rag on trailers for giving away too much plot these days, but what exactly is this movie about?
Generic isn’t exactly the word I’d use to describe it, but it does sort of look like 15 other comic book properties smashed together. But not…you know, “generic.”
I recognize the distinction is not immediately clear, but when I watch the trailer I literally see flashes of Thor, Black Panther, Hancock, etc. Compared to say, Morbius, which is generic as fuck, and doesn’t look like anything in particular. This trailer looks like a quilt composed of way too many different patterns without a unifying element.
i can’t imagine rock’s carefully constructed contracts would allow him to be a real bad guy.
Which sucks because the man was a great heel and has the exact type of magnetism that can make Black Adam beloved even as he’s doing the worst shit. Fingers crossed.
Forget contracts, movies where the protagonist is an actual bad guy doing bad guy shit throughout don’t actually work and are almost never actually done.
I can think of at least one movie in which he’s the bad guy. Can’t say which because spoilers, but.
doom and the mummy returns don’t count, he was still hungry and powerless in hollywood back then.
I’m bummed, because him playing the heel was easily the best part of Doom.
Seems like the Rock’s been talking about how he’s an anti-hero type. I’m guessing he takes over the country, kicks out the heroes, and becomes a tyrant beloved in his country type. Then the wizard Shazam is like, “Hey, Billy, uh, go fight that guy.”
Sounds like this movie isn’t right for you. May I suggest a Marvel movie, any Marvel movie, I mean like any Marvel movie – because all are exactly the same formula. Yes, a Marvel movie is probably exactly what you need. Again any Marvel movie…
I mean, he did literally do that in the comics, so maybe? Black Adam was an actual dictator for a while, started a global war, pulled all sorts of shit. The movie is a spinoff with Shazam so maybe it leads up to a showdown between the two of them. After all, the whole reason Black Adam was created was so that Captain Marvel/Shazam (whose villains were usually goofy or humorous) would have a serious nemesis who could match him in battle.
It looks like they are skipping his previous beef with Big Red and going straight to Infinite Frontier Justice League where he joins their covert ops branch, able to flex his controversial brand of justice.
Which I’m all for. The old stories have been done. We get it. Hero has a nemesis. Nemesis tries to kill hero. What if there is more at stake than just fighting, like saving the world you want to conquer; ala Vandal Savage who was Earth’s first protector?
https://www.cbr.com/infinite-frontier-black-adam-superman-fan/
She was talking about that gym coach, Kal.
“Shazam (a.k.a. Captain Marvel, but nobody uses that name for him anymore for some reason)”Sam, Google exists. This is your job. Also you seem like a nerdy dude and I feel like you’re well aware of the copyright issues. Just weird.
Someone (and not Sam) needs to have a talk with the ancient Vulcan philosopher Sa’arcasm.
Hey, maybe it is! If I’m the only one hung up on this then so it goes, and this isn’t something that matters. Just doesn’t land for me (obviously, I guess) given it’s not really snarky or a joke. Like, if “for some reason” is italicized or a hyperlink to some past article on the copyright thing, I get it. As is, like I said, it’s just weird.
*shrug* I enjoy dry, sardonic humor so that’s how I read it. Sure, there could’ve been a hyperlink to explain the joke to everyone rather than assuming the audience would get it … but one can’t hold everyone’s hand either. also wow, I sure don’t visit the Gawker sites much anymore, hence the belated notice that my existence was actually acknowledged. 🙂
Or just hit me up, I’ll explain it to him.
I pushed up my nerd glasses and said “I thought everybody knew why Captain Marvel is called ‘Shazam’ now”
Featuring Piers Brosnan as George Lucas!
I’m hesitantly excited for this movie. Nice to see DC/WB adding some B- and C-listers to the sandbox again. Mostly interested to see what they do with Dr Fate and Hawkman, Brosnan and Hodge are pretty solid casting choices. Atom Smasher and Cyclone are odd choices (I read they wanted to use Hawkwoman but couldn’t for some reason).
I get DC likes to use fictional countries, but with Hawkman and Dr Fate in the mix, not setting it in Egypt is a missed opportunity. Maybe they wanted to avoid Moon Knight comparisons (which might also be why Dr Fate’s helmet doesn’t have eyes?).This movie could easily go either way.
Kahndaq is comics-accurate. One of the major differences between DC and Marvel is that DC uses mostly fictional cities whereas Marvel uses real world settings.
One of the major differences between DC and Marvel is that DC uses mostly fictional cities whereas Marvel uses real world settings.Uh, thanks for explaining something I literally just wrote. However, Black Adam, Doctor Fate and Hawkman all feature Egyptian iconography and histories (until they needlessly added fake-Egypt Kahndaq to Black Adam’s history in 2006). It would have been cool to see that all tie together in an Egyptian context.
“Maybe they wanted to avoid Moon Knight comparisons”
Or maybe it’s a Black Adam movie, not a Dr Fate or Hawkman movie.
Remember when Wonder Woman 1984 had a whole sequence set in Egypt, and it looked so much like Fake Hollywood Egypt that actual Egyptian people (including the director of Moon Knight) complained? Makes sense that they would decide to just sidestep all that.
Yeah, that was pretty bad. Just thought maybe they’d learn from WW84’s mistakes. I’m not sure using a fake country as a stand-in completely side-steps that since its built from broad stereotypes. It does avoid boycotts from Kahndaq, at the very least.
I didn’t know Sarah Shahi was in this!!!!! I love her!!
Atom Smasher became an ally to Black Adam when they were both in the JSA, so probably why he made it to the film if they need more super-powered bodies.
Makes sense. I really only know Atom Smasher from Justice League Unlimited and that he’s somehow related to the Golden Age Atom.
Just looked him up and didn’t realize he’s the same character as Nuklon and debuted as Atom Smasher in Kingdom Come.
He looked so goofy as Nuklon. I never read Infinity Inc., but he always stuck out in the crowd shots of Crisis on Infinite Earths.I think I saw more mohawks in eighties comics than anywhere else in the world.
Digging the sense of the trailer and general mood there.Something that currently works for me is that the generally the premise of ‘Will you be the savior or destroyer’ in superhero movies is kind of eh as it is always the savior part. However here? I genuinely don’t know which way they are going to spin it at the end.
Looks like fun. I will watch the shit out of this on HBO Max.
Pierce Brosnan! I’m in. But that beard under the helm of Nabu? Woof.
Birds of Prey (not the plot but Harley Quinn’s character herself) and Peace Maker are figuring out what the DC world can look like, so I feel they are going in the right direction. Hopefully this can keep the momentum going in exploring the grey area, while still doing it with some heart.
shazam was solid, too.
yes, my bad! the comedy and the heart and kind of fun how much DC can switch up the tone compared to Marvel (Wandavision was refreshing tho).
The problem with The Rock is that he’s always The Rock, no matter what role he’s playing.
This is not always a problem! But it does sort of seem like a problem here. I’ll bet they had to do like twenty takes of the scene in the header image because he kept instinctively raising The People’s Eyebrow.
He did pretty good not being the Rock in the Jumanji’s . .. but his look is so distinct it does not help!In this though he is . . . ElectroRock?Ooooh no! He is ShockRock!
That was definitely my takeaway. When he was first cast, i thought, “Great! he certainly looks the part.” But he’s definitely playing this as… the Rock. I will watch and enjoy the Rock in just about anything, but I’m actually quite stunned how ill-suited he seems for this role now.I wish he was just the villain in Peacemaker season 2 instead.
I like The Rock, you always know what you’re getting with him. But, similar to someone like Schwarzenegger, you see the actor instead of the character and that doesn’t work so well when he’s supposed to be playing an established character. If The Rock were cast as Superman he would still be The Rock, just in blue spandex this time. Maybe it would help if they threw a wig on him or something for once?
My guesses, clockwise from left: Journey 2, Jumanji, Rampage, Jumanji 2.
I wanted to add a fifth panel with his tan shirt and jungle background in The Rundown, but he actually had hair in that one!
I’m not familiar with this character at all, but… Aldis Hodge is always good so that helps. If for some godforsaken reason we’re not ever getting the Shane Black written and directed Doc Savage starring Dwayne Johnson, I guess this is okay.
The Rock , in an Egyptian setting playing a good guy who eventually becomes a monstrous villain…its been done….
That CGI looks like the Rock was transforming, both into a giant scorpion and into Jesse Pinkman.
Marvel at the fact that the JSA is appearing on the big screen.
Marvel at the fact that the JSA is appearing on the big screen.
I see what you did there, Zod.
Aw, shucks 🙂
Funny how much that trailer aped the original Black Panther trailer, but I’m fine with that. And this, for which I’ll hold cautious optimism.
“Now I kneel before no one…” is this teasing the return of General Zod?
General Zod, Gorilla Grodd, the thunder god, and Millie the Mod. el
Some of the visuals look incredible, but I can’t help the sinking feeling that like all of the Rock’s starring vehicles, the story is going to be beyond generic
I’m of the opinion that there is an inherent problem with making Black Adam an “anti-hero” instead of a full fledged villain, exarcebated by casting Dwayne Johnson in the role…Johnson is one of the biggest modern movie stars, so he’s not the type of guy who you could put as second fiddle. Yet, Black Adam, no matter how much hyped, is a third tier character, tops. And on top of that, no matter how you try to spin it as an “anti-hero”, is a VILLAIN who should lose to Superman if they ever clash on screen. A thing that I’m sure won’t sit well with Johnson’s ego.So the only way of making this work is keeping Dwayne’s Black Adam in a separate continuity, where he can be the main star. The second he shows up along the Trinity and even other JL members, he would be an antagonist to be defeated or it will make a joke of the other heroes.