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Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam Movie Doesn't Have Typical Origin Story
Black Adam director Jaume Collet-Serra reveals that the upcoming DCEU film will subvert the typical superhero story. New Line Cinema has been trying to develop a movie using DC's Black Adam for decades, and Dwayne Johnson has been attached to play the role for nearly as long. After the success of Shazam! in 2019, plans for a solo film stabilized, and filming on Black Adam finally began in 2021. Black Adam will premiere on October 21, 2022, starring Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, and Bodhi Sabongui, with Pierce Brosnan appearing as Doctor Fate.
Black Adam will function as a spinoff to Shazam!, premiering only months before Shazam! Fury of the Gods. The movie will follow Black Adam, an ancient antihero who shares Billy Batson's powers, as he reluctantly teams up with the Justice Society of America after 5000 years of imprisonment. The character has appeared in comic books since the mid-1940s, and Black Adam is best known as one of Shazam's archenemies. Despite this, Johnson's Adam will lean closer to an antihero than a villain. Although Johnson has been pursuing this role for well over a decade now, Black Adam remains one of DC Comics' more obscure characters.
Speaking with Vanity Fair, Collet-Serra explains how Black Adam's relative anonymity among mainstream audiences contributes to the film. According to the director, the movie will play with the character's sense of mystery to subvert the typical superhero origin story. Check out Collet-Serra's explanation below:
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It’s not your typical superhero movie where a guy wants to be a superhero and gets the powers, and then you spend 50 minutes trying to figure out how the powers work. This is a movie where you introduce Black Adam right away, and then throughout the movie you slowly peel back the onion and reveal what happened.
Considering Black Adam should function as a counterpoint to Shazam!, it makes perfect sense for Adam's origin story to reflect the two champions' differences. Billy's story needed to follow the typical superhero script because his discovery of his powers was directly linked to his character arc in the film: learning to accept his responsibilities for his new strength and to his new family. In contrast, Black Adam's powers aren't usually linked to his positive traits in the comics. Adam instead eschews responsibility and abuses his powers for selfish reasons. Unless Johnson's Black Adam commits fully to villainy, his movie should use an opposite blueprint to Shazam! and show Adam unlearning his behavior linked to his powers. Collet-Serra seems to share this same idea by revealing the antihero's backstory in layers.
Collet-Serra's method fits Black Adam's character well, but it could present a problem for casual DCEU viewers. Since the character isn't well-known outside the comics, if Black Adam doesn't present enough context for the antihero at the beginning of the film, some viewers may spend the first half of the movie confused. On the other hand, if done well, the antihero could become a fan favorite like Marvel's Deadpool. Viewers will have to see if Collet-Serra can deliver on his words when Black Adam premieres this October.
