It feels like an age since we first heard that Dwayne Johnson was cast as Black Adam. Anyone who’s even so much as glanced at the comic book character can see that this an absolutely perfect bit of casting though and as such, the film seems like a recipe to print money. And yet, the years have ticked by as the project remains in development hell, with not even so much as a cameo appearance in Shazam!
Most of this is probably down to Johnson’s frankly kinda insane work schedule, which sees him doing several movies at once while also running his show Ballers. But now it seems like the wheels are finally turning for Black Adam, as Heroic Hollywood is reporting that production is gearing up for spring 2020. All that stands in the way is the shooting of Red Notice (in which Johnson and Gal Gadot play Interpol agents tracking down an art thief portrayed by Ryan Reynolds), but once that’s done, it’s black lycra time.
Also confirmed is that the movie will feature the DCEU debut of Hawkman. He’s a longtime opponent of Black Adam in the comics and his Thanagarian weaponry could be one of the few things powerful enough to give Adam something to worry about. Also, if we’re seeing Hawkman, can Hawkgirl really be too far behind?
In any case, it’ll be interesting to learn what role these characters play. On paper, Hawkman should be the hero and Black Adam the villain, but the latter has recently been more of an antihero in the comics, so we could see him trying to achieve something noble whilst Hawkman assumes he’s up to something villainous. Hopefully once filming begins we’ll start to get a better idea of what the pic will be about, but either way, it’s about damn time Johnson played a superhero and I, for one, can’t wait.