Black Adam Finally Has A Release Date!
by Erik Amaya
It almost seems impossible, but Black Adam is finally on the DC Comics film schedule!
As revealed by star and executive producer Dwayne Johnson on Thursday, the film will be released on December 22nd, 2021. The project has been in the works for over a decade and across those years Johnson has told fans the film would go into production “next year.” In October, the actor once again recommitted to filmming “next year,” but specially mentioned production would begin in the summer of 2020 — a change from the more nebulous comments of previous updates. Jaume Collet-Serra is attached to direct with Adam Sztykiel writing the current screenplay.
The film is of course based on the Fawcett Comics Captain Marvel villain who appeared in one issue of The Marvel Family during the company’s heyday. Created by Otto Binder and C.C. Beck, the story of the Wizard Shazam’s failed Egyptian champion took on a major expansion when the Captain Marvel characters became part of the DC Comics library. Thanks to writers like Roy Thomas, Jerry Ordway and Geoff Johns, Black Adam transformed from a simple villain into an antihero with noble intentions, but extremely questionable methods.
“It’s a true pleasure to become Black Adam,” Johnson wrote in his Instagram post. “[He] is blessed by magic with the powers equal to Superman, but the difference is he doesn’t toe the mark or walk the line. He’s a rebellious, one of a kind superhero, who’ll always do what’s right for the people – but he does it his way. Truth and justice – the Black Adam way. This role is unlike any other I’ve ever played in my career and I’m grateful to the bone we’ll all go on this journey together.”
It is unclear how the film will sync up with Shazam!, but the character was teased early on in that film when the Wizard (Djimon Honsou) told Sivana about his earlier, failed attempt to find a champion. Presumably, Black Adam and Shazam (Zachary Levi) will tussle in a film sometime in the next decade … unless it takes another decade to get a second Black Adam appearance to occur.
Black Adam finally comes to theaters on December 22nd, 2021.
