Black Adam is a 2022 American superhero film starring Dwayne Johnson as the title character. Based on the DC Comics character Teth-Adam / Black Adam, it is a spin-off from Shazam! (2019) and the eleventh film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra from a screenplay by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani, the film follows Teth-Adam / Black Adam, an ancient superhuman who is released from his magic imprisonment by a group of archeologists to free the nation of Kahndaq from the crime syndicate Intergang, whose local leader plans to obtain an ancient and powerful relic called the Crown of Sabbac. Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Quintessa Swindell, Marwan Kenzari and Pierce Brosnan appear in supporting roles.
Johnson was attached to Shazam! early in development and confirmed to portray the villain Black Adam in September 2014, but the producers, at Johnson's urging, later decided to give the character his own film. Sztykiel was hired in October 2017. Collet-Serra joined in June 2019 with a planned release date of December 2021, but this timeline was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional casting took place over the next year, including four members of the Justice Society of America, along with the script being rewritten by Haines and Noshirvani. Principal photography took place from April to August 2021 at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, and also in Los Angeles.
Black Adam premiered in Mexico City on October 3, 2022, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 21 to mixed reviews from critics. It failed to break even at the box office, grossing $393 million against a budget of $190–$260 million, becoming a box-office bomb.
Plot
In 2600 BC, the tyrannical king Ahk-Ton of Kahndaq enslaves his people to mine the mythical metal Eternium, using it to forge the Crown of Sabbac to attain power and invincibility. After attempting to stage an uprising against Ahk-Ton, a young slave boy is chosen as champion by the Council of Wizards, transforming him into an adult superhero. He kills Ahk-Ton, ending his reign.
In the present day, Kahndaq is oppressed by the criminal organization Intergang, as archaeologist Adrianna Tomaz tries to locate the Crown of Sabbac with her brother Karim and colleagues Samir and Ishmael. Inside the tomb, Adrianna obtains the crown, but the Intergang troops kill Samir. As a last resort, Adrianna reads an incantation that awakens the superhuman warrior Teth-Adam from slumber. US government official Amanda Waller deems him a threat. After Adam slaughters the Intergang troops, Waller contacts the Justice Society to apprehend him. Justice Society members Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone and Atom Smasher stop Adam's killing spree and explain to Adrianna that Adam was not a savior but an imprisoned killer.
Ishmael reveals himself as the leader of Intergang's Kahndaq division, as well as the last descendant of Ahk-Ton, and kidnaps Adrianna's son Amon, who has hidden the crown. The group finds the crown and gives it back to save Amon. Ishmael attempts to shoot Amon, causing Adam to lose control of his powers, killing Ishmael and wounding Amon. Guilt-ridden, Adam flees and reveals to Hawkman that Kahndaq's champion was actually his late son Hurut, who was slain by Ahk-Ton's assassins after they killed his mother. Having been given Hurut's powers to save his life, Adam, blinded by grief and rage, murdered Ahk-Ton and destroyed his palace. Deemed unworthy by the Council of Wizards, Adam killed them all in retaliation except for Shazam, who imprisoned him along with the crown.
Feeling unfit of becoming a true hero, Adam surrenders and the Justice Society takes him to an underwater Task Force X black site in Antarctica, where Emilia Harcourt places him in stasis. Fate again has a premonition of Hawkman's impending death.
The Justice Society realizes Ishmael tricked Adam into killing him to be reborn as Sabbac, the champion of the six eponymous demons. When Sabbac summons the Legions of Hell to terrorize Kahndaq, the Justice Society unsuccessfully attempts to stop Sabbac. Fate believes that Hawkman's death can be avoided with his sacrifice and fights Sabbac alone. Fate uses astral projection to release Adam before he is killed by Sabbac. Meanwhile, Amon, Adrianna, and Karim rally the people to fight the Legions of Hell. Sabbac overpowers Hawkman, but Adam arrives in time to kill Sabbac, causing the Legions of Hell to disappear. The Justice Society departs on good terms with Adam, who destroys the old throne in the belief that Kahndaq needs a protector, not a ruler. He adopts a new name: Black Adam.
In a mid-credits scene, Waller warns Adam against leaving Kahndaq and calls in a favor; Superman descends, who offers to negotiate with him.
Cast
Dwayne Johnson as Teth-Adam / Black Adam:A former slave from Kahndaq who was bestowed with the powers of multiple Egyptian gods by his son after he was mortally wounded by king Ahk-Ton's soldiers. He possesses "the stamina of Shu, the swiftness of Heru, the strength of Amon, the wisdom of Zehuti, the power of Aten, and the courage of Mehen". Benjamin Patterson serves as the body double for Teth-Adam in scenes where he is depicted in his human form, with Johnson's face superimposed onto the character for these sequences. The character previously appeared in Shazam! (2019) in a brief cameo, during a sequence where The Wizard teaches Billy Batson about the previous recipients of his powers. Johnson also voiced the character in a post-credits cameo, ahead of the character's live-action debut, in the unrelated animated film DC League of Super-Pets (2022), in which he also voiced Krypto. Aldis Hodge as Carter Hall / Hawkman: The leader of the Justice Society who wields technology and weapons made of Nth metal, a substance from another planet. Noah Centineo as Albert "Al" Rothstein / Atom Smasher: A young member of the Justice Society, with the metahuman ability to control his molecular structure which manipulates his size and strength. Sarah Shahi as Adrianna Tomaz: A university professor and resistance fighter in modern-day Kahndaq, who proves to be an ally for Adam and the Justice Society. Marwan Kenzari as Ishmael Gregor / Sabbac:The last descendant of King Ahk-Ton and militant leader of the Kahndaq division of the criminal organization Intergang. Unlike Teth-Adam, Sabbac was bestowed with the powers of the six most powerful demons of Hell: Satan, Aym, Belial, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, and Crateis. Kenzari also portrays Ahk-Ton, Ishmael's ancestor and the ancient tyrannical king of Kahndaq, who was killed by Adam. Quintessa Swindell as Maxine Hunkel / Cyclone:A young member of the Justice Society, who was experimented on and injected with nanobot technology at a young age, resulting in her receiving the ability to control and manipulate wind. As the granddaughter of Abigail "Ma" Hunkel / Red Tornado she seeks to live up to her familial superhero legacy. Swindell studied dancing techniques when designing the character's movement. Bodhi Sabongui as Amon Tomaz: Adrianna's teenage son, who not only befriends Adam, but believes him to be a hero. Pierce Brosnan as Kent Nelson / Doctor Fate:An experienced and senior member of the Justice Society, who wields the Helmet of Fate and is capable of various sorcery abilities. Nelson is the son of an archeologist, with whom he discovered the tomb of Nabu the Wise. After attaining a mystic-sentient helmet from another dimension, which chooses who it allows to wield it, he mastered his powers and used them as a superhero over many years. Brosnan wore a motion capture suit for the role.
Additionally, Mohammed Amer portrays Karim, Adrianna's brother and Amon's uncle, and James Cusati-Moyer portrays Samir, a colleague of Adrianna and Karim. Jalon Christian appears as Hurut, Adam's son who becomes the original Champion of Kahndaq deemed pure of heart to wield the powers of Shazam, with his superhero form portrayed by Uli Latukefu. Odelya Halevi portrays Shiruta, Adam's wife who was murdered by Ahk-Ton's men during the flashback scenes set in ancient Kahndaq. Henry Winkler cameos as Al Pratt, Rothstein's uncle, who was the previous Atom Smasher.
Djimon Hounsou reprises his role from Shazam! as the wizard Shazam, and Jennifer Holland reprises her role from The Suicide Squad (2021) and Peacemaker (2022) as Emilia Harcourt. Viola Davis and Henry Cavill appear uncredited, reprising their respective DCEU roles as Amanda Waller and Superman. This was Cavill's final performance as Superman before it was announced that he would step down from the role.
The demons Satan, Aym, Belial, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, and Crateis also appear in this film and are voiced by uncredited actors.
Production Development New Line Cinema began the development of a Shazam feature film in the early 2000s, based on the DC Comics character Captain Marvel. The title came from the wizard Shazam who gives the hero his powers, with DC unable to use the title Captain Marvel due to legal issues. Peter Segal signed on to direct the film in April 2006, and Dwayne Johnson was approached about portraying Captain Marvel later that year. By November 2007, Johnson was also interested in the film's antagonist, Black Adam, and had received positive responses from fans about him possibly playing that character. Development on the film was placed on hold by January 2009, but had begun again by April 2014 when Warner Bros. Pictures (the parent company of New Line) and DC began planning a slate of superhero films for its shared universe, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). That August, Johnson said he was still attached to the film but had not yet decided if he would play Captain Marvel or Black Adam. A month later, Johnson announced that he would portray Black Adam. Johnson was paid $22.5 million for his involvement.
In January 2017, Johnson met with DC's Geoff Johns to discuss the project after studio executives grew concerned that an actor of Johnson's profile was being used as a villain and supporting character in the film instead of starring in it. Following that meeting, they decided to split the project into two films: Shazam! (2019), starring the hero Captain Marvel, whom DC had since rebranded as Shazam; and Black Adam, with Johnson starring as the title antihero. Johnson said the two characters would meet onscreen in the future. Johns confirmed in July that Johnson would not appear in Shazam!, though his likeness is used in that film for a magical hologram of Black Adam conjured by the wizard Shazam.
Adam Sztykiel was hired to write the screenplay for Black Adam in October 2017, with Johnson set to produce the film with Dany and Hiram Garcia of Seven Bucks Productions along with Beau Flynn of FlynnPictureCo. At that time, there were plans for Johnson to first appear as Black Adam in the sequel to Suicide Squad (2016), which had Gavin O'Connor attached as writer and possible director. The intention was for the members of the Suicide Squad to be tracking a weapon of mass destruction which would be revealed as Black Adam in a small role for Johnson, but these plans were abandoned when O'Connor left that film in 2018. Sztykiel completed a draft of the script by April 2018, when Johnson said there was potential for filming to begin in 2019. At the end of August, Sztykiel handed in another draft and further revisions were underway. Hiram Garcia said then that giving Shazam and Black Adam their own films was allowing the best movie for each character to be developed, and he added that their depiction of Black Adam was not going to be "softened up for audiences", explaining that he is "not the boy scout superhero, he's the guy that's like, okay, you cross him? Well, I rip your head off". In December, Johnson said filming would not begin until the end of 2019 at the earliest due to his commitments to Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) and Red Notice (2021).