With the DC cinematic universe expanding, Dwayne Johnson has shared another picture from his own film where he plays DC's anti-Shazam, Black Adam.
The storied actor is a fan favorite from his wrestling days to his early breakouts in the Mummy franchise, to becoming one of Hollywood's biggest and most reliable box office stars. The highly-anticipated Black Adam has been under scrutiny for a while now, so it was a delight to see Johnson take to social media to post a black and white behind-the-scenes shot of his character and offer praise for what the role has meant to him.
Johnson has offered reveals of his Black Adam costume in the past, glimpses here and there from behind-the-scenes photo shoots or a magazine cover or two. However, now that he’s finishing up the film, he’s decided to put out an artsier black and white shot, anchored by a lighting rig and a microphone in the frame, of him in full Black Adam costume standing on a stung rig and staring intensely into the camera. The film was being buttoned up even as he posted the picture to his official Instagram page
Mohamed Diab, director of the Disney Plus Moon Knight series, recently criticized the filmmakers behind Black Adam for not hiring Egyptian talent. The character, who has his origins in DC's fictional equivalent of Egypt (or a culture that borrows so heavily from Egyptian aesthetics as to make no difference), is nevertheless of great significance to Johnson. “Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of playing some great (fun) characters over the years, but none speak to my DNA more than this antihero known as the man in black, Teth Adam," he said.
Johnson's first major film role (after some bit parts in Star Trek: Voyager and That ‘70s Show) was as the villainous Scorpion King in the smash-hit sequel, The Mummy Returns. With Black Adam, he now gets to shed some of his goody-two-shoes image. The guy’s literally played the tooth fairy, after all, so it’s going to be quite a wild ride for audiences to see him cause some real havoc for the heroes of the DC universe and do it with some real menace.
Johnson ended his post by saying, “Rage against the dying of the light. The hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change.” As he’s already gone on record saying he hopes to fight Superman someday, and there’s been speculation about Black Adam going toe-to-toe (sandal-to-boot?) With Wonder Woman, this would be a major shakeup indeed. All that’s left now is to see if Black Adam smells what The Rock is cooking.
Black Adam is scheduled to be released in theaters on October 21, 2022.
Source: Dwayne Johnson/Instagram