'Black Adam' Trailer Has Been Sixteen Years in the Making
Warner Bros. has released a full trailer for the upcoming Dwayne Johnson-led film, Black Adam. Johnson has been attached to play the titular reluctant hero since 2014 when the character was originally going to make an appearance in Shazam!, but Johnson had made his interest in Black Adam very clear since 2006. Those plans were scrapped in favor of a standalone film in January 2017. In October of that same year, writer Adam Sztykiel was hired for the screenplay, but it wasn’t until June of 2019 that director Jaume Collet-Serra was brought onboard.
Black Adam originally lived 5,000 years ago in the fictional North African country of Kahndaq where he was enslaved. The trailer doesn’t give full specifics, but Black Adam is killed and then revived by a sacrifice from his son. In being reborn, Black Adam has gained quite a few superpowers like flight, strength, and speed.
“You can be the destroyer of this world or you can be its savior,” says Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan) to Black Adam. While the trailer may not give the audience an answer as to what forces Black Adam needs to protect the world from, it’s been revealed that the criminal organization Intergang will be the film’s villain. The trailer does give a glimpse of some other heroes who will make an appearance. Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) are members of Justice Society of America (JSA) and will likely have prominent roles in the film.
Black Adam will be the DC Extended Universe’s eleventh film and director Collet-Serra’s first foray into the superhero genre. The majority of his other films fall into the horror or thriller genres. Collet-Serra is responsible for helming four Liam Neeson films including The Commuter and Non-Stop. Black Adam won’t be Collet-Serra’s first time collaborating with Johnson. The two worked together in the surprise-hit of last summer, Jungle Cruise.
Writer Sztykiel has also previously worked with Johnson back in 2018 for the disaster movie, Rampage. Aside from that film, most of Sztykiel’s work is purely comedy. He’s responsible for films like Due Date, Made of Honor, and the Undateable television series. Sztykiel doesn’t have the only writing credit on the film. He’s joined by Sohrab Noshirvani and Rory Haines. The two met while at Columbia University and became writing partners. Their first mini-series, Informer, premiered in 2018 and was nominated for a BAFTA award. It will be interesting to see the final product these three screenwriters have created.
There have been a few more casting announcements, but they are for undisclosed roles. Uli Latukefu also has ties with Johnson. Very close ties. Latukefu plays Johnson in the NBC sitcom, Young Rock. Mo Amer is also in an undisclosed role. He’s most known for his stand-up comedy special and as Cousin Mo on Ramy.
Despite the trailer’s more serious tone, the presence of writer Sztykiel and some members of the cast implies that Black Adam will be comedic as well. It’s certainly been a long road to get here, but the trailer makes it look like the wait was well worth it.