Black Adam Starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Undergoes Final Week of Filming

 

The hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change forever as Black Adam undergoes its final week of filming with Dwayne “The Rock '' Johnson in the starring role as the slave turned powerhouse anti-hero who has the capability to go toe to toe with Superman. The Rock posted a photo on his Instagram of his physique in preparation for what he described a cutting-edge scene he was about to film where the VFX team intensely tracks and computes The Rock’s muscle fibers as Black Adam faces off against his enemies onscreen. This has just been one of many social media pics The Rock has posted raising awareness for the intense and grueling measures he has been taking to get into peak physical shape for the role of a lifetime and if this role requires The Rock to up his game higher than ever physically you know that's saying something. The Rock had the following to say about the culmination of his work on Black Adam in its final week of shooting:

“This is the final week of production and the hard work with my training, diet and conditioning has been relentless - hardest of my career because I’ve had to maintain this physical look for months and had to peak in my final week - but our collective goal is to raise the bar with BLACK ADAM. To deliver the antihero you’ve been waiting for and you deserve.” 

 

 

Black Adam has been in development for a long time with numerous delays over the years. The Rock first announced that he was playing Black Adam back in September of 2014 declaring:

“Kneel at his feet or get crushed by his boot. My honor to become.... Black Adam.” 

 

 

Initially Black Adam was set to have his origin story told in the Shazam film but as The Rock communicated in an Instagram video that he did thanking fans for making Shazam No. 1 at the box office that while Shazam was still being written they were trying to make the origin stories of two important characters in DC mythology Shazam and Black Adam work in the same script and at some point he didn’t think it was working so he called up his good friend Toby Emmerich who runs Warner Brothers and told him they needed to split up the project into two films giving both Shazam and Black Adam their own proper origin stories. Toby Emmerich agreed and the pair rolled the dice moving forward with Shazam which eventually found its lead in Zachary Levi as a solo project and Black Adam being allowed to focus on just telling the story of the formidable anti-hero. Filming was originally supposed to commence on Black Adam in 2020 but like everything else in the world COVID got in the way but finally earlier this spring shooting on Black Adam got underway and its wrapping up production this week. The Rock has been vocal about doing justice to the character of Black Adam from the comics who traditionally in the past has been the villain of Shazam and in more recent years has been evolved into more of an anti-hero allowing for more complicated dimensions for The Rock to explore onscreen ala Tom Hiddelston as Loki in the MCU. Last year at DC FanDome The Rock did a panel where he showcased his pitch for Black Adam to fans describing the epic origin story of Black Adam from his roots in slavery 5000 years ago to his reign of power in the present day. The film will include the Justice Society of America with Aldis Hodge starring as Hawkman, Noah Centineo as Adam Smasher, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone and James Bond himself Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate. Person of Interest’s Sarah Shahi has also been cast in the film with reports suggesting she will be playing Black Adam’s wife Adrianna Tomaz, who also becomes the hero Isis. 

 

 

This is certainly a dynamic cast with alums from Person of Interest and the James Bond franchise adding a certain edge to the proceedings alongside The Rock who plays a lot of his roles tongue-in-cheek but seems to be all in here going in with the intention of playing Black Adam with a ferocity and intensity that will do the Black Adam character justice. 

 

 

At DC FanDome he closed his panel urging his fans to get a message out for him to the Justice League: 

“So as you guys can see we are cooking up something pretty badass and certainly a lot of fun that we are all excited about to deliver to you guys, and I can’t wait to show you more. But before I go I want you guys to help me out with something. Its something that's pretty important. I need you guys to help me get a message out to uh, to some of the other ones… Some of the other DC superheroes… Let's let Flash, Shazam, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman, lets let them know something.... Things will never be the same because the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change.” 

 

 

So clearly The Rock is dedicated to seeing through his vision of Black Adam, from his love of the story to his intense commitment to physically transforming himself into the titan anti-hero Black Adam. Shazam having already been released in April of 2019 will see Zachary Levi returning in the role in its sequel Shazam: Fury of the Gods releasing June 2, 2023 with filming already well underway. Black Adam will hit theaters on July 29, 2022. Following Shazam’s sequel and Black Adam’s origin story we are sure to get the ultimate crossover between Shazam and Black Adam in most likely either Shazam 3 or Black Adam 2. However it happens Zachary Levi’s fun-spirited Shazam meeting the dark-souled powerhouse Black Adam is sure to be a firefight nobody will want to miss. Furthermore, for years a crossover has been teased between Henry Cavill’s Superman and The Rock’s Black Adam with not only comic-book related source material to back the rumors up but even stronger supporting evidence in the fact that The Rock and Henry Cavill share the same agent. So whether we see Henry Cavill’s Superman showdown with Black Adam in his movie is anybody's guess but regardless at some point down the line it is inevitable that The Rock’s Black Adam will facedown and ultimately team up with Zachary Levi’s Shazam and Henry Cavill’s Superman while also at the same time holding a highly conflicting worldview than the two boy scouts, Black Adam being the complicated anti-hero that he is. So in the meantime, stay on notice for Black Adam’s arrival on the scene because when he comes you know the hierarchy of power within the DC Universe will be forever changed. 

 

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