The time has finally come for the Black Adam movie to start production, at long last. Dwayne Johnson first signed on to play Black Adam all the way back in 2014, when Man of Steel had only just been released and plans were in motion for Zack Snyder to build a DC Extended Universe of films. Now, seven years later, Zack Snyder’s DC Universe is all but dead and Warner Bros. is moving forward with DC films both interconnected (The Flash) and wholly separate (The Batman). But Johnson is keen on upending convention with his DC Comics debut.
“We are approximately three weeks away from shooting Black Adam and I can’t believe we are at the finish line with this thing,” Johnson said in a video posted to his Instagram. “And what a journey it has been. Actually I can believe it considering how hard we’ve worked over the years.”
Black Adam will not only introduce the origin story of the titular character – who has been both hero and villain in DC comics – but will also bring forth the Justice Society of America, a group of heroes working together that includes Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), and Doctor Fate. Jaume Collet-Serra was hired to direct Black Adam after Johnson and the filmmaker worked together on Disney’s upcoming Jungle Cruise movie, and while filming was originally supposed to begin in 2020, that was delayed due to COVID-19.
Originally scheduled for release in December 2021, the film is now undated as Johnson and Collet-Serra likely don’t want to be chasing a release date and instead want to make the film as good as it can be. Indeed, Johnson shared in the video a page from the script — which was written by Adam Sztykiel but now has revisions by The Mauritanian scribes Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani – that he says encapsulates who Black Adam is.
“It gives you guys an example of who Black Adam is, and who Black Adam is to the world of the DC universe. But also, I think, who Black Adam is to the world of superhero universes period, and that is the DC Universe but that also includes the Marvel superhero universe too. I’m not saying there’s gonna be a mashup, what I am saying is it doesn’t matter to me, it doesn’t matter to Black Adam, you put ‘em all on notice – whether they’re part of the Marvel universe or the DC universe, they’re all on notice now.”
The page, which Johnson says is essentially a credo for this Black Adam movie, reads as follows:
Well, I’d love to wear a rainbow every day.
And tell the world that everything’s okay.
But I’ll try to carry off a little darkness on my back
‘Till things are brighter…
I’m the Man in Black.
It’ll be exciting to see how Johnson fits into Warner Bros.’ plans for upcoming films, which include sequels to DCEU movies like Aquaman and Wonder Woman but also adjustments like James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad and a new Superman movie written by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Check out Johnson's Instagram post below.