Black Adam ushers in a new era of DC movies

He’s not the first supervillain to have a movie to call his own, but DC Comics’ Black Adam is arguably the most powerful of them all, such that when lead actor Dwayne Johnson promised that the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe would change forever, he was probably setting his plan in motion. 

Just don’t call it an evil scheme brought on by a bad guy because that’s not what the anti-hero is about.

“He’s a pretty passionate guy about what he believes in and it was truly an honour to play him and deliver him to the world,” said Johnson at a press conference that Geek Culture attended. 

And while it might be fashionable to make movies that revolve around the villain, including two Suicide Squad movies focusing on a team of misfit supervillains, a Joker film that explores the origins of the Clown Prince of Crime, as well as a Peacemaker streaming series about the slightly unhinged vigilante, none of them had years of mythology and the gravitas that Black Adam has. 

“This is a character that we were thrilled to get off the page and put on the screen. It was really important that Black Adam, even though he’s been in prison for 5,000 years, is a modernised version and for us, we really want it to be true,” explained Black Adam producer Beau Flynn.

“At the same time, the way that Black Adam measures justice is, and could be very powerful. We made sure we kept that intact. He can be very aggressive but at the same time, he has a real understanding of morality and code from his own point of view.

"It’s something that we wanted to really fulfil that antihero version of a superhero and we wanted to make sure that it was true to the genesis of the comic book while still fitting into a modern global audience.”

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While much of the fanfare surrounding the film is focused on Johnson and his take on a legacy DC Comics character, the 50-year-old actor asserts that the movie is more than just introducing one of the most powerful anti-hero in DC’s history – it also has the task of debuting the Justice Society of America (JSA), DC Comics’ first team of superheroes, way before the Justice League.

“When we were making the movie, we wanted to usher in a new era in the DC Universe and what that meant was to create, to introduce new characters – seven characters – to the world, which is not easy to do, to do it with intrigue and interest, with respect and mythology for the DC fans,” said Johnson of the JSA. 

“Everyone came to the table and really wanted to make a tremendous movie and again, make something that was just different and that was reflective of all our characters.” 

Joining Johnson in the suit and cape on screen are Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, and Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, a different group of actors who may have little in common, aside from the fact that their respective roles mark the first time this group is donning a cape and costume. 

Centineo is best known for his lead roles in teen romcoms, especially Netflix’s popular To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before franchise where he plays Peter Kavinsky, a nice, kind, confident and thoughtful dreamboat. Whilst Kavinsky can easily steal the hearts of girls, Atom Smasher is quite the opposite. 

As a hero, Atom Smasher is dependable and has super strength as well as control over his molecular structure, but he’s also rather insecure and indecisive.

It didn’t help that he’s the grandson of a supervillain named Cyclotron. At one point in the comics, a negative encounter with The Flash turned Atom Smasher into a villain too.

Despite these obvious differences, Centineo approaches the hero in the same way he approaches any other role – making it sound so easy. Most of it, according to the actor, is possible when you have the support of an amazing cast. 

“I think you just approach it like any other role, really, you know, you’re doing as much as you can to understand who the character is. With Atom’s mastery, specifically, he comes from a pedigree of superpowers, his uncle, his grandfather even being a villain and with that comes expectations and a pressure that he has on him,” said Centineo of his character.

“There’s also a sense of privilege and you got to bake all of that into who he is. And then he got to show up with this incredible cast that’s turned into a family! I’m like, ‘just let it all go’ and trust everyone around you and that was the easiest part, without a doubt, was trusting that this is easy.” 

Centineo’s outlook varies differently from his co-star Pierce Brosnan. The James Bond actor has an impressive long list of movies attached to his name, but none of which are superhero movies.

In fact, some will say that Brosnan’s outing as a superhero is long overdue especially after seeing him wear tuxedos and fight bad guys as 007 and sing Abba on top of yachts and idyllic islands. 

“I have wondered for many years when I’ll ever get a job in a superhero movie,” joked Brosnan whilst the rest of the cast burst into laughs. 

“I think the timing was perfect for me. Doctor Fate met me at a good time in life with the years I have on me and the experience of life that I’ve lived and I really enjoyed playing him so so so enormously, and every day was a joy to go to work with my fellow actors here and we did become a family.”

It is clear that Brosnan feels strongly about his character. Whilst he’s no comic book nerd or superhero fanatic, the 69-year-old actor feels like donning the helmet of Doctor Fate was meant for him, as the actor could empathise even more with the character after reading into his origins.

“Doctor Fate is one of the oldest characters in DC Comics, and he’s a sorcerer, but first and foremost, he’s a man. He’s Kent Nelson, he’s an archaeologist and his entry into this world came with a sacrifice, and that was of his father’s death and he then carries the mantle, this mythology,” he continued. 

“You have to kind of really go back to your own kind of personal self, and this is a man who sees the future so he sees the death and the dying of people and when you have those kinds of secrets in your, in your DNA as a character, then as an actor, you can bring a subtext which is very possible. Doctor Fate is very close to me. I enjoyed playing him enormously.”

To that, Johnson added, “The truth is, there was no one else on this planet who could have played Doctor Fate other than Pierce and also in many ways, Pierce and Doctor. Fate is the anchor of our movie.”

The only cast member who openly admits to being a comic book fan is Aldis Hodge, who plays the role of Hawkman, “It was fantastic stepping into this being a comic book fan myself. I have a great love for the entire world.”

According to the actor, playing Hawkman is a privilege and a big responsibility. Having been a fan of the DC games, Hodge wants to honour the character him, and plenty others adored.

Playing a superhero is also a dream come true for the dynamic actor who’s played in action, drama, adventure and fantasy films and TV series. 

“I know how much the fans really love the rooted nature of who this character is. It was a privileged responsibility to step into the shoes and to honour what they grew up with, and for me, I think it reinstalls my belief and faith in being able to hope for something, to hope for your own personal dreams, live in your creativity to live in your imagination, because what we did here truly is something magical,” said Hodge. 

“You see us up there? We’re working hard, working our butts off, but we are living our dreams. So for me, you know, I just am privileged to be able to share this, this space and this experience with the fans and I can’t wait to see what they say.” 

As for Swindell, playing Cyclone meant portraying a different type of female superhero that doesn’t fall into stereotypes. The actress feels strongly that Black Adam pays respect to the character, and what she’s capable of despite Cyclone being a very young 19-year-old superhero.

“The thing that stood out the most was how unique she was and how open Jaume [Collet-Serra] and our producers and everyone was to the idea of just making her you know, just herself. There wasn’t any stereotype that was attached to this young female character.

"She wasn’t trying to be it was this young girl who was figuring herself out and this is the first opportunity that she can amplify who she has worked to become, and also step into her dream,” said Swindell. 

“She comes from a lineage of superheroes and there’s this idea of how can I match the person who has come before me and so now she’s becoming herself and she’s stepping into her own and has these like fantastic representations of who she wants to be around her, and a newfound one which is Black Adam. It becomes this journey of self-realisation and self-exploration which really inspired me and just made me want to step into myself even more and embrace who I am fully.” 

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Producers Flynn and Hiram Garcia are extremely excited to bring the JSA to life, being comic book fans themselves. Their only wish is that fans would enjoy Black Adam and request for more as the duo definitely have more movies in store for the heroes. 

“We’re all comic book fans to different degrees and just fans in general of the film and genre. I always dreamed of being able to tell a superhero story. I read them growing up and then once I found myself in the film industry, so fortunate to be a part of it. To be able to tell a story in the DC space, introduce the JSA, Black Adam, it’s a privilege and an honour and it’s just something that you know, hopefully, fans are gonna respond to the film in the way we imagined they will and if they do, we have a lot of stories we want to tell them this space,” said Garcia.

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Black Adam opens in cinemas on Oct 20 2022. 

This article was first published in Geek Culture.