Dwayne Johnson's latest movie, Black Adam, is finally out of development hell and flying at superspeed to our cinema screens. Here's what you need to know about DC's Black Adam movie.
If you're unfamiliar with the comic book character, Black Adam is a notable villain, sometimes antihero, for the DC hero Shazam.
His comic book lore dates back to Ancient Egypt where the character was given the powers of the Egyptian Gods, only to be quickly imprisoned for millenniums.
The Black Adam movie will likely give us insight into the character's origins as well as show us the time after he escapes and wreaks havoc on the modern world.
This is what the synopsis from Warner Bros. tells us:
Nearly 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the ancient gods-and imprisoned just as quickly-Black Adam is freed from his earthly tomb, ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world.
We've got plenty of glimpses and teases at the Black Adam movie over the years but our first concrete look at the film came via a trailer in June.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=NSbtDurQ7nE
It's basically just two minutes of The Rock being a badass which is really this movie's whole selling point.
You can also see a first look at the movie from 2021's DC FanDome.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=w00MG1M3xdY
Stay tuned to San Diego Comic Con in July because the Rock has confirmed he will be bringing his superhero to the stage, likely with some more footage.
Black Adam is currently scheduled for release on October 20, 2022, in Australian cinemas.
There are a lot of superhero movies flying around these days so it can be hard to keep up with which cinematic universe each is in.
Black Adam is a DC comics character and his movie will fit into the DC Extended Universe, alongside the likes of Wonder Woman, The Suicide Squad and Justice League.
While Black Adam will be an origin story for the character it may be worth going back and watching 2019's Shazam! seeing as it seems like the two are barrelling for a crossover at some point. Shazam is also sometimes referred to as Captain Marvel in the comics - it's confusing, but rest assured they are in a separate universe!
It seems the idea of whether Black Adam is a hero, villain or anti-hero in the DCEU will be a central theme of the film.
The trailers show Black Adam pulling off some superheroic feats but apparently he also kills people, which is a big no-no in hero land. One character in the trailer tells Black Adam "heroes don't kill people", to which he responds "well, I do."
The footage so far certainly seems to show Black Adam having an appetite for destruction, but whether this is his hero or villain origin story remains to be seen.
Black Adam has always been one of Shazam's most notable opponents, and it's only a matter of time before we see them face off on-screen.
I wouldn't favour anyone going up against The Rock, but the comics might tell a different story.
Shazam and Black Adam have basically the same power set, which was gifted to them by the same wizard. This includes flight, stamina and endurance, super speed and super strength.
While Black Adam is said not to feature his famous rival Shazam (played by Zachary Levi), it will feature a very famous superhero group: the Justice Society of America.
Not to be confused with the Justice League, the JSA was actually DC's earliest iteration of a worldwide superhero team but featured a different lineup of characters.
Some notable heroes like Batman and Green Lantern have been part of the JSA but other founding members that we'll see include the likes of Doctor Fate and Hawkman.
It's likely the group will come into conflict with Black Adam in this film if he's set upon the villain's path.
Black Adam probably wouldn't exist if it wasn't for its leading man Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock).
Johnson has been committed to bringing the DC Comics character to screen since 2007. Fifteen years later, his passion project has finally made it to the screen.
The Rock was originally supposed to appear as Black Adam in the Shazam! movie, but Warner Bros. instead decided to give the character a solo film.
As mentioned, we'll meet some of the JSA members in this movie including Aldis Hodge (One Night in Miami) as Hawkman, Noah Centineo (To All The Boys I've Loved Before) as Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell (Voyagers) as Cyclone and Pierce Brosnan (James Bond franchise) as Dr Fate.
Rounding out the cast of Black Adam we have Sarah Shahi (Sex/Life) as Adrianna, Marwan Kenzari (Murder on the Orient Express) as Ishmael and Bodhi Sabongui (A Million Little Things) as Amon.
The film is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Jungle Cruise) with the script written by Adam Sztykiel and Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani.
We'll keep this post updated with more information about Black Adam as it gets closer to release. You can see which other DC movies and TV shows are on the way here.