When Shazam came out in 2019, the possibility of Black Adam appearing in a sequel electrified fans, most of whom had been fan-casting Dwayne Johnson as the stoic anti-hero for years.
While they finally got their wish, they anticipated each update of the wrestler-turned-actor’s social media pages, getting excited with each new Black Adam-related post. Then, this year, the trailer (like the main protagonist) finally broke out.
The trailer opens with a voiceover of Pierce Brosnan’s Doctor Fate seemingly talking to Black Adam as a jet flies over snowy mountains to a secret facility to put the anti-hero into a pod.
Fans then see glimpses of Adam’s life in ancient times before a team of modern-day soldiers surrounds him in a cave, quickly dispatching them and showing hints of the power he holds.
Next, we see a jet carrying what can only be presumed to be other members of the Justice Society of America, showing more of Aldis Hodge’s Hawkman and Noah Centineo’s Atom engaged in a city-wide battle against an unknown enemy.
An exchange between Hawman and Black Adam gives fans the portrayal they’ve been clamoring for – an uncompromising, ruthless superpowered being who will kill to get what he believes is necessary.
There’s a brief comic relief moment towards the end of the trailer that lightens the mood before further showcasing the magnitude of Black Adam’s invulnerability and power.
“This is a character with amazing abilities,” said producer Hiram Garcia last year. “He has super speed, can fly, and has world-breaking strength, to name a few. We wanted to make sure moviegoers feel that throughout the entire movie. You’re not going to see him use super speed just once, and then it stops, this is part of his arsenal. It’s common to see abilities fall to the wayside when dealing with characters like that, but one of our many goals was to keep continuity there and push the bar in terms of how we do it.”
“This guy is an absolute force of nature. A force of nature that dishes out justice the way he wants,” Garcia continued. “We mean it when we say the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is going to change. When Black Adam arrives, everything’s going to change.”
Black Adam features Dwayne Johnson as the titular anti-hero under the direction of Jaume Colette-Serra. The film is the eleventh in the DC Extended Universe and will be scheduled for a release on October 21 later this year.
