Black Adam is a superhero film set in 2022. It is based on the same-named DC Comics character and is produced by New Line Cinema, DC Films, Seven Bucks Productions, and FlynnPictureCo.1)
The eleventh film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), Black Adam serves as the first part of Phase One.2)
Jaume Collet-Serra directs the film. Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, and Sohrab Noshirvani wrote it.3)
Dwayne Johnson plays the titular role with Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, Bodhi Sabongui, and Pierce Brosnan in the film.4)
Johnson worked as a producer on the film Shazam! Early in production and confirmed in September 2014 to play the villain Black Adam, the filmmakers later opted to give the character his own film.5)
Sztykiel joined the company in October of 2017. Collet-Serra joined in June 2019 with a December 2021 release date in mind. The COVID-19 epidemic pushed back this timeline.6)
Over the next year, further casting took place, including four members of the Justice Society of America (JSA). Haines and Noshirvani rewrote the script.7)
From April to August 2021, filming took place at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as in Los Angeles.8)
On October 3, 2022, Black Adam made its international debut in Mexico City. Warner Bros. Pictures distributed it theatrically in the United States on October 21, 2022.9)
Critics complimented Johnson and Brosnan's performances. They panned the narrative and the villain, while the action portions elicited mixed reactions.10)
In the early 2000s, New Line Cinema began work on a Shazam! feature picture based on the DC Comics superhero Captain Marvel. Because DC was unable to use the term Captain Marvel owing to rights difficulties, the title originated from the wizard Shazam, who grants the hero his abilities. Peter Segal agreed to helm the picture in April 2006, and Dwayne Johnson was recruited later that year to play Captain Marvel.11)
By November 2007, Johnson had shown interest in playing the film's antagonist, Black Adam, and had gotten encouraging feedback from fans. By January 2009, the film's development had been halted. By April 2014, Warner Bros. (New Line's parent company) and DC were developing a slate of superhero films for their shared world, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Johnson stated in August that he was still connected to the picture but had not chosen whether he would portray Captain Marvel or Black Adam. Johnson stated a month later that he will play Black Adam.12)
Johnson met with DC's Geoff Johns in January 2017 to discuss the project after studio execs were worried that an actor of Johnson's caliber was being utilized as a villain and supporting role in the picture rather than starring in it. Following that discussion, they agreed to break the project into two films: Shazam! (2019), featuring Captain Marvel, who DC had renamed as Shazam, and Black Adam, starring Johnson as the title antihero.13)
Johnson stated that the two characters might meet onscreen in the future, but he also stated in July that he would not be appearing in Shazam!14)
Johnson was set to play Black Adam in the sequel to Suicide Squad (2016), which had Gavin O'Connor connected as writer and possibly director. The Suicide Squad members were supposed to be chasing a weapon of mass devastation, which would be revealed as Black Adam in a minor role for Johnson. When O'Connor exited that picture in 2018, these preparations were abandoned.15)
Hiram Garcia stated at the time that giving Shazam and Black Adam their own films allowed for the best movie for each character to be developed. He also stated that their portrayal of Black Adam would not be “softened up for audiences,” explaining that he is “not the boy scout superhero, he's the guy that's like, okay, you cross him? So I ripyour head off”.16)
Collet-Serra linked Black Adam to the Dirty Harry of superheroes, claiming that the film will depict a darker version of Johnson than the adventure comedy Jungle Cruise.17)
Johnson said in October that production will begin in July 2020. The following month, he stated that Black Adam will be published on December 22, 2021.18)
He also stated that Shazam will not feature in the film, but that members of the Justice Society of America (JSA) would.19)
Lorne Balfe, who previously created music for Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy and wrote additional music for The Lego Batman Movie, was revealed as the film's composer in July 2022.20)
WaterTower Music published the themes for Black Adam and the Justice Society as singles on September 29 and October 7, respectively. On October 14, the whole soundtrack was released.21)
Black Adam was published with Ticket to Paradise in the United States and Canada.22)
“Black Adam may end up pointing the way to an exciting future for DC pictures, but as a single experience, it's a wildly inconsistent failure,” according to the website's critics.23)
Johnson informed Total Film in February 2015 that Black Adam might face Superman or Batman in the future.24)
In April 2017, he announced that DC Films intends to feature Black Adam and Shazam in a future film together.25)
In the DCEU, Henry Cavill, who plays Superman, stated that there are plans for Johnson's Black Adam to square up against Superman in the future.26)
Johnson and the other producers planned to develop numerous Black Adam pictures during their “long-term engagement with DC,” according to Dany Garcia in May 2021.27)
Other characters, in addition to Shazam and Superman, were considered as potential future competitors for Black Adam, including Wonder Woman.28)
Johnson revealed future plans for Black Adam to confront Superman in the DCEU in October 2022, and reiterated intentions for the character to crossover with Shazam.29)
He stated that Black Adam is the first picture in Phase One of a new storytelling approach in the DCEU, similar to how the Marvel Cinematic Universe presents its film slates in stages.30)