Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will unleash a whole new kind of justice in his debut as Black Adam, with the official synopsis for DC outing teasing the super-powered drama to come. Unveiled by Warner Bros., the brief Black Adam logline reveals a comic book accurate origin for The Rock’s antihero, an origin that will lead to Black Adam’s unorthodox methods of truth, justice, and all that other stuff.
The Rock has been signed on to this adaptation of Black Adam for so many years now, with the actor having constantly teased the incoming power shift that will occur in the DCEU upon his arrival. Black Adam will see Dwayne Johnson suit up as Teth-Adam AKA Black Adam, an antihero from Kahndaq who is imprisoned for thousands of years. After casting off the shackles of enslavement, Teth-Adam is chosen by the wizard Shazam to harness the powers of the ancient Egyptian Gods.
“Nearly 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the Egyptian gods—and imprisoned just as quickly—Black Adam (Johnson) is freed from his earthly tomb, ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world.”
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Gifted a set of powers that includes S for the stamina of Shu, H for the swiftness of Horus, A for the strength of Amon, Z for the wisdom of Zehuti, A for the power of Aten, and M for the courage of Mehen, Black Adam emerges as a warped protector and antihero, before ultimately becoming the archenemy of the superhero Shazam and his super-powered family.
It remains to be seen exactly what “unique form of justice” involves, but director Jaume Collet-Serra has previously compared Black Adam’s brand of enforcement to none other than Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry. “Having just done a romantic adventure comedy where he’s very light, I was really attracted to getting the dark version of Dwayne. Basically, turning him into Clint Eastwood in a Western,” the filmmaker said. “I was like, ‘You’re like the Dirty Harry of superheroes.’ I didn’t have to convince people that I was right for this one in the same way that I did for Jungle Cruise. It’s like things I’ve done with Liam [Neeson], that tough-guy antihero who has a heart. The world is not black and white. The world is in gray areas, so you need these people that are riding that gray area.”
Alongside Black Adam, the movie will also introduce audiences to the Justice Society of America, a team of heroes who will no doubt want to put a stop to Black Adam’s idea of justice. The Justice Society of America, or JSA, will be made up of Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone and Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate, who, while a formidable squad, will likely come to regret facing off against Black Adam’s Dirty Harry-style antics.
Black Adam is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 29, 2022, courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures, and will be streamed on HBO Max 45 days after its theatrical release.
