You can’t help but admire Dwayne Johnson’s enthusiasm and confidence when it comes to Black Adam, not to mention the sheer dedication that it’s taken to stick with the role for almost fifteen years before director Jaume Collet-Serra finally called action on the comic book blockbuster a few weeks back.
As you’ll no doubt be aware, Warner Bros. have a little bit of a track record when it comes to interfering on the studio’s superhero efforts, but that hopefully won’t be the case given Johnson’s standing in the industry and level of clout that’s seen him spearhead development on Black Adam since the very beginning.
Throughout it all, the leading man has been telling us the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change, as well as calling out characters from Marvel for good measure. The Rock has now tweaked his repeated statement in a new caption to accompany a shadowy tease of Teth-Adam lurking ominously under a cloak, and you can check them both out below.
“If you know the comic book mythology, then you know where his pain comes from. His rage. His wife and children killed. His people brutally enslaved. He is not a superhero, but rather a champion. Champion of the poor and beaten down. Champion of the people. And he is the most unstoppable force in the DC Universe.
Production is coming along great and I’m very pleased with the movie we’re making. Black Adam’s mythology, ethics and actions no doubt will create a new paradigm in the world of superheroes, villains & antiheroes. The power will shift. The line will blur. From a slave to a God.”
Black Adam hits theaters next July, and it could be a pivotal moment for WB and DC’s future slate. Despite the rampant speculation, we still don’t know if the film is connected to the rest of the shared mythology whether it’s the SnyderVerse or otherwise, but the franchise is in desperate need of a big box office success after the Justice League debacle was finally drawn to a close and Birds of Prey underperformed.
It might not trouble Joker‘s billion-dollar total, but Dwayne Johnson can always be relied on to deliver the goods from a commercial perspective, regardless of how close Black Adam comes to its mission statement of shifting the paradigm.