Black Adam is a 2022 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Produced by New Line Cinema, DC Films, Seven Bucks Productions, and FlynnPictureCo., it is a spin-off from Shazam! (2019) and the 11th film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and written by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, and Sohrab Noshirvani, the film stars Dwayne Johnson as the titular character alongside Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, Bodhi Sabongui, and Pierce Brosnan.
Plot[]
In 2600 BC, the tyrannical king of Kahndaq Anh-Kot created the Crown of Sabbac, known to give the wearer great power. After attempting to stage a revolt, a young slave boy is given the power of Shazam, transforming him into Kahndaq's heroic champion Teth-Adam; he kills Anh-Kot and ends his reign.
In the present day, Khandaq is oppressed by the Intergang. Archaeologist Adrianna Tomaz tries to locate the Crown of Sabbac with the help of her brother Karim, and colleagues, Samir and Ishmael. As Adrianna obtains the crown, they are ambushed by the Intergang. Adrianna reads an incantation that awakens Adam from his slumber, who subsequently slaughters most of the Intergang troops.
Government official Amanda Waller learns of the incident and contacts Carter Hall / Hawkman and the Justice Society of America (consisting of Kent Nelson / Doctor Fate, Maxine Hunkel / Cyclone, and Albert "Al" Rothstein / Atom Smasher) to assist in taking Adam into custody. The JSA arrives in time to stop Adam from doing further destruction to the city and Intergang's troops. The JSA explains that Adam was not a savior in his time, but instead a madman who was imprisoned not entombed.
Ishmael is revealed to be the leader of Intergang, and chases Adrianna's teenage son Amon, who has the crown. Adam, Adrianna, and the JSA intend to use the crown to trade for Amon.
They reach Ishmael, who reveals that he is the last descendant of King Anh-Kot and, wanting his rightful place on the throne. He demands the crown, which Adrianna willingly gives to save Amon's life. Ishmael betrays his part of the deal and shoots at Amon, and Adam, trying to save Amon, loses control again and destroys the hideout with his power.
Guilt-ridden, Adam flees. He reveals to Hawkman that it was actually Hurut, his son, who was Khandaq's champion; knowing that Hurut was invincible, the king's men executed his family instead, killing his mother and wounding Adam in the process. Hurut gave his power to Adam to save him, but Anh-Kot's assassins managed to kill the now-mortal Hurut. Enraged, Adam slaughtered all of the king's men, before he was summoned by the wizards of Shazam, who imprisoned him after deeming him unworthy. Feeling incapable of becoming Khandaq's champion, Adam surrenders to the JSA, who take him to Waller's underwater prison. Soon after, Fate sees an ominous premonition of one of the JSA's impending deaths. As the group returns to the city, they realize Ishmael intentionally made Adam kill him so that he can be reborn as Sabbac, and he arises from the underworld to claim his throne.
The JSA arrives in time to try to stop Sabbac, who summons the undead to Khandaq. The JSA prepares to face Sabbac in Anh-Kot's ruins, but Fate creates a magical force field that forbids Hawkman, Cyclone and Atom Smasher from entering and reveals that Hawkman's death can be avoided with his own sacrifice. Fate then fights Sabbac alone, and at the same time uses astral projection to release Adam. Sabbac kills Fate, causing the force field to disappear, and allowing the others to fight. Just as he is about to kill the JSA, Adam arrives and engages Sabbac, ultimately killing him. The JSA departs on good terms with Adam, who accepts his new role as protector of Khandaq rather than its ruler.
In a mid-credits scene, a message from Waller warns a defiant Adam never to leave the city, before Superman arrives and suggests the two of them should talk.
Cast[]
- Dwayne Johnson as Teth-Adam/Black Adam
- Aldis Hodge as Carter Hall/Hawkman
- Noah Centineo as Al Rothstein/Atom Smasher
- Sarah Shahi as Professor Adrianna Tomaz
- Marwan Kenzari as Ishmael Gregor/Sabbac and King Ahk-Ton
- Quintessa Swindell as Maxine Hunkel/Cyclone
- Bodhi Sabongui as Amon Tomaz
- Pierce Brosnan as Kent Nelson/Doctor Fate
- Mo Amer as Karim
- James Cusati-Moyer as Samir
- Jalon Christian as Hurut
- Uli Latukefu as Adult Hurut
- Odelya Halevi as Shiruta
- Viola Davis as Director Amanda Waller
- Jennifer Holland as Agent Emilia Harcourt
- Henry Winkler as Al Pratt/Atom
- Djimon Hounsou as Shazam
- Patrick Sabongui as Rami
- Henry Cavill as Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman (post-credit scene)
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This is the eleventh film in the DC Extended Universe.
- This is the first film centering on Black Adam.
- This is the first film spin-off in the DC Extended Universe.
- This is the first theatrical film featuring the Justice Society of America.
- This is the live action debut of Black Adam, Cyclone, Sabbac and The Intergang.
- This is the first theatrical film featuring Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone and Atom Smasher.
- Henry Cavill reprises his role as Superman for the first time since Justice League (2017) not counting Zack Snyder's Justice League.
- Black Adam was originally going to appear in Shazam! (2019), but it was later decided he would debut in his own film.
- Dwayne Johnson once asked his fans which character he should play, superhero Shazam or supervillain Black Adam. His fans chose Black Adam.
- There were plans for Black Adam to appear in The Suicide Squad (2021), but those plans were scrapped when James Gunn took over that movie.
- The film originally received an R rating due to several gruesome death scenes. A majority of these deaths had to be cut before the film could receive the more commercially viable PG-13 rating.
- The fourth live-action appearance of the Justice Society of America after Smallville (2001), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (2016) and Stargirl (2020).
- Pierce Brosnan wore a motion-capture suit for his role as Doctor Fate.
- Cyclone's costume is a combination of her normal DC Comics green costume and her purple ribbon costume from the "Kingdom Come" comic.
- The first trailer was released on June 8, 2022, the 112th birthday of C.C. Beck, co-creator of Shazam and Black Adam.
- Atom Smasher's costume is a combination of his normal DC Comics costume (red and blue, mask) and his Nuklon costume (full-body suit).
- Pierce Brosnan wore a motion-capture suit for his role as Doctor Fate.
- Quintessa Swindell took dancing lessons in preparation for their role as Cyclone.
- In the comics, Adrianna Tomaz is better known as Isis. That character is inspired by the protagonist of the Secrets of Isis, a female counterpart to Shazam created and owned by Filmation.
- Before this DC movie, Pierce Brosnan was considered to play Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman (1989).
- Hawkgirl and Stargirl were originally going to appear but were removed in favor of Cyclone.
- Originally the Justice League villain Eclipso was going to be in the film, with concept art featuring the Heart of Darkness diamond that contained Eclipso and being implied to have corrupted Teth-Adam. He was removed in favor of keeping Adam anti-heroic rather than villainous.
- Uli Latukefu starred in Young Rock (2021) as Dwayne Johnson's 18-year-old counterpart
- Armie Hammer and Alexander Skarsgård were considered for the role of Hawkman.
- Eiza González was considered for the role of Hawkwoman before the character got cut from the script.
- Before this DC movie, Pierce Brosnan was considered to play Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman (1989).
- Jaume Collet-Serra was considered to direct The Suicide Squad (2021) but dropped out of the running to direct Jungle Cruise (2021) instead, that film also starred Dwayne Johnson.
- Nazanin Boniadi was chosen for the role of Adrianna Tomaz before the part went to Sarah Shahi.
- Earned $67 million in the U.S. and Canada in its opening weekend, becoming the highest-grossing opening of The Rock's career as solo star surpassing the $60 million of Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019).
- Originally the Justice League villain Eclipso was going to be in the film, with concept art featuring the Heart of Darkness diamond that contained Eclipso and being implied to have corrupted Teth-Adam. He was removed in favor of keeping Adam anti-heroic rather than villainous.
- Cyclone has a monkey backpack during her introduction scene. In the comics, she had a pet monkey, as a sidekick, called Frankie (named after "The Wizard of Oz" author L. Frank Baum, who inspired Cyclone's "Wicked Witch of the West" costume).
- Hawkgirl and Stargirl were originally going to appear but were removed in favor of Cyclone.
- Jordan Peele was originally offered the chance to direct the film when it was first announced in 2017, but Peele declined, saying "I'm not a fan of superhero movies and I'd hate to take that chance away from a director who is passionate about them."
- Bodhi Sabongui, who plays Amon Tomaz in the film, had previously starred in DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Necromancing the Stone (2018) as Behrad Tarazi, an alternate version of Amon Tomaz.
- Isabela Merced, Leslie Grace, Thomasin McKenzie, Kathryn Newton, Haley Lu Richardson, Mackenzie Foy, Alexandra Shipp and Odessa Young were considered for the role of Cyclone.
- Dacre Montgomery, Eli Goree, Jacob Elordi and Matthew Noszka were the top choices for Atom Smasher.
- Nazanin Boniadi was locked for the role of Adrianna Tomaz before the part went to Sarah Shahi.
- Fady Elsayed was originally cast in the film, but due to COVID restrictions, his role had to be recast.
- Pierce Brosnan is the fifth James Bond actor to appear in a comic book adaptation, after:
- Timothy Dalton - Flash Gordon (1980), The Rocketeer (1991), and Doom Patrol (2019)
- George Lazenby - Batman Beyond (1999)
- Sir Sean Connery - The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
- Daniel Craig - The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
| Shazam! |
|---|
| Shazam! (2019), Black Adam (2022), Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) |
| DC Extended Universe |
|---|
| Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016), Wonder Woman (2017), Justice League (2017), Aquaman (2018), Shazam! (2019), Birds of Prey (2020), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), The Suicide Squad (2021), Black Adam (2022), Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023), The Flash (2023), Blue Beetle (2023), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) |