This October, there's a brand new DC superhero in town – and he's not playing nice.
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson will be lifting more than just his signature eyebrow in DC's explosive and spectacular-looking Black Adam. Johnson plays the titular super-being, an all-powerful demi-god whose destructive abilities threaten all and sundry.
The movie is the latest instalment in the ongoing DC Extended Universe and offers People's Elbow fans what they've always wanted: the chance to see Johnson play an all-powerful superhero.
Scroll down to discover more about the movie.
What is the story of Black Adam?
Black Adam centres around the titular superhero, an anti-heroic force of nature who must learn to use his powers for the greater good.
Hailing from the ancient city of Kahndaq, at the outset of the movie, Black Adam has been imprisoned for many thousands of years following the elimination of his family.
Newly released and re-born as a force of vengeance, Black Adam must learn to harness his abilities to stop a threat even greater than he is.
Who stars in Black Adam?
Dwayne Johnson stars as the eponymous Black Adam, making his live-action superhero debut and his sophomore DC movie (he voiced Superman's dog Krypto in this summer's family animation DC League of Super-Pets).
Johnson also produces the movie through his Seven Bucks Productions company (also responsible for the Johnson-led wrestling comedy-drama Fighting With My Family). Johnson is collaborating with director Jaume Collet-Serra with whom he worked on the 2021 Disney adventure Jungle Cruise.
Johnson first introduced himself as the character during the 2021 DC Fandome. Remind yourself of his grand entrance in the following clip.
The first segments of Black Adam footage were unspooled in February 2022, followed by a teaser trailer in April 2022 (which premiered at the Las Vegas CinemaCon) and, eventually, a full trailer in June 2022.
Critics observed the apparent darkness inherent in Johnson's portrayal. The Verge journalist Charles Pulliam-Moore noted that Black Adam's tragic past "radicalizes him and emboldens him to use his newfound powers to seek a kind of justice so brutal that those around him are forced to lock him away."
Are we about to see Johnson's first villainous portrayal since his breakout movie role in 2001's The Mummy Returns? It sounds like it.
Where does Black Adam fit in the DC Extended Universe?
That remains to be seen. At the moment, the ongoing DC movies are operating largely independently of one another.
What we do know is that Johnson's character was meant to appear at the end of 2019's spirited and entertaining DC adventure Shazam! The latter film's title character, a teenage boy encased in an adult superhero's body, is the sworn nemesis of Black Adam. It was assumed that a climactic teaser would set up an ongoing cinematic conflict.
However, Black Adam ultimately failed to make an appearance. (It also remains to be seen whether he'll appear in Shazam! sequel Fury of the Gods, released in 2023.)
Will Black Adam introduce the Justice Society of America?
Yes, the Justice Society of America will make its cinematic debut in Black Adam. This superhero team (think of them as the DC flipside to Marvel's Avengers) has undergone many complex iterations over the years, beginning with its debut in All Star Comics #3 (published during winter 1940–1941).
The Justice Society of America has encompassed numerous members. For the purposes of the Black Adam movie, it's largely the original comic book ensemble who will be present.
These are the high-flying Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), the de facto leader of the group, the matter-redefining Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) and the sage sorcerer Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan).
Although she wasn't a part of the original comics line-up, we can also expect to see the sound-generating Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) in the film.
The Justice Society of America must take it upon themselves to convince Black Adam to change his destructive ways. That's because of the emergent threat posed by Sabbac (Marwan Kenzari), a militant criminal who has been possessed by an all-powerful demon that threatens the world.
Scroll down to check out the stylish one-sheet posters of the Black Adam line-up, beginning with the title character.
Will there be future Black Adam movies?
Yes, Johnson and fellow production partner Hiram Garcia have both indicated that future Black Adam movies will be in the offing. Garcia has said that it's conditional on the first Black Adam being a box office success.
Should that be the case, Garcia indicated that the likes of Wonder Woman could be presented as rivals for Black Adam. This is in addition to Black Adam's expected foes Shazam and Superman.
Might we get Black Adam threaded into the events of a third Wonder Woman movie? If anything, we can surely expect him to make an appearance, significant or in fleeting mid/post-credits form, in the forthcoming Shazam sequel.
"We have always had a vision of where we saw we wanted this to go," Garcia told Collider. "We've never viewed this as just a one-off movie. I'm such a gigantic comic book nerd and fan, and I love this universe so much, if you can tell from my excitement about talking about all these things.
"I've always gotten into this with a vision of, 'This is the story we want to tell, this is where we would love to see this go, this is how we would see multiple pictures play out, possibly including spinoffs for individual characters,' but there's always been a rough, kind of loose outline in our head on an imaginary whiteboard of how we'd want to do it.
"As we're making that, we start to look at that a little bit more. But, again, ultimately, we need the movie to be received well and we want fans to like it, but there's 100% a vision of what we'd like to be doing in a multiple picture aspect when it comes to Black Adam and the JSA."
When is Black Adam released in Cineworld?
Black Adam is released on October 21. Stay tuned to the website and the blog for tickets going on sale.
Is there a new Black Adam trailer?
Yes, scroll down to check out the new Black Adam preview.
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