Since the “Black Adam” film was officially announced, Dwayne Johnson has made it abundantly clear that he thinks the anti-hero is the strongest character in the DC film universe. In fact, he can’t wait for the time that his character will get to take on Superman…whoever is wearing the cape.
In a new interview with TotalFilm, Johnson spoke bluntly about “Black Adam” and what his team learned from previous DC films. He also talked about wanting to set up his character for the inevitable battle against DC’s biggest hero, Superman. Even though he has no clue if it will be Henry Cavill or someone else with the ‘S’ on their chest.
“You get one shot out of the gates to build these characters properly,” said Johnson. “We paid attention to some of the pitfalls that other films had experienced in the past, in the world of DC, and what, rightfully, got a lot of fans unhappy and pissed – and, as a fan, I was one of them.”
He added, “So, let’s make sure we respect tradition and mythology but let’s not be handcuffed creatively. We can do anything if we keep the audience first. So to me, there’s a battle that’s going to go down one day, between Black Adam and Superman. I don’t know who that Superman is going to be, and I don’t know who’s going to play him. That’s OK. I don’t need to know right now. But I’m confident in knowing that [laughs]. And that’s based out of what fans want. We worked backwards from there.”
While Johnson doesn’t explicitly say which films and “pitfalls” he learned from, it is assumed he may be talking about the early ventures into the DCEU, where we saw the release of Zack Snyder’s films, as well as the original “Suicide Squad” and Joss Whedon’s “Justice League.” So, learning from the past would lead fans to believe that maybe Johnson is going to present something great with “Black Adam” right? We shall see.
As for when Black Adam might go up against Superman? That’s something that is probably way, way down the line. First on the crossover list has to be Shazam, a character with direct ties to Black Adam. Plus, the “Shazam” franchise is going strong right now, with the sequel expected to arrive next year. Not only that, Johnson isn’t wrong when he says he has no clue who will be Superman if/when they cross over. Will Henry Cavill continue to wear the cape or will Warner Bros. want to focus on the new reboot produced by J.J. Abrams? Yet again, we shall wait and see.
What we know for sure is that “Black Adam” is supposed to hit theaters on July 29, 2022.