Part of the next wave of the DC Extended Universe, the upcoming Black Adam promises to continue the goodwill of Shazam! At the very least, it’ll finally put Dwayne Johnson in a comic book movie, and we now have an update on the project, which is likely to be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, courtesy of producer Hiam Garcia.
Longtime Johnson collaborator Garcia had this to say to CinemaBlend in a recent interview:
“Jaume is a real talent. He is one of my favorite directors I’ve ever worked with. Not only is he talented, he’s an unbelievable collaborator. He’s an amazing visionary. And what we have in store with Black Adam and for the fans, I am so excited inside.”
According to Garcia, we should expect more news soon as well, whereby:
“That deal’s almost closed. He’s ready to go, and I think the fans are going to be really happy.”
Adding Collet-Serra to the production makes sense given his work with Johnson on Jungle Cruise. Moreover, the director’s experience on action movies like The Shallows and The Commuter shows he can handle the physical side of the genre. It’ll be curious to see how Collet-Serra and Johnson present the darker side of the character, though.
We certainly think that the Rock’s capable of doing justice to the complex part of Teth-Adam, particularly in terms of lending charisma to the character. Furthermore, Johnson’s enthusiastic about the potential of Adam’s abilities on screen, even if his recent comparisons with Superman might be a bit off the mark in terms of the current comics incarnation.
Black Adam should begin shooting in early 2020, and at the moment, we’re putting our money on a 2021 release. By that point, Johnson will be arriving in a revamped DCEU, coming after a new wave of movies including The Batman, Birds of Prey, The Suicide Squad, and sequels to some of Warner Bros.’ more recent hits.