Black Adam: Plot, release date and everything you need to know about the Dwayne Johnson film

The first full-length trailer of Black Adam is finally out. After making fans wait for months, it offered our closest look at Dwayne Johnson as the titular DC character. And it’s as dark as it gets. The film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra is a spin-off of Shazam! starring Zachary Levi. While the 2019 film was a fun comedy, the upcoming title is far from it. The trailer has Johnson’s Black Adam do some major damage and it has only piqued intrigue around the character.

Back at DC FanDome, Dwayne Johnson had revealed that “the hierarchy of power in the DCEU is about to change,” and he might be right. In the comic books, Black Adam was an Egyptian slave named Teth-Adam who was granted powers by the Wizard Shazam. However, he was corrupted and misused those powers – specifically by usurping the throne by killing the Pharaoh. The Wizard dubbed him “Black Adam” and banished him but he returned to Earth years later and went up against Billy Batson (the guy who eventually got all of Shazam’s powers). 

The trailer sees Black Adam as a formidable force as he breaks planes, people and more with his bare hands. He has all the powers of Shazam – it stands for the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury. Much like Superman, he’s got a God-like skill set. And judging from a scene from the trailer where he catches a rocket, he seems invincible. So far it is known that he’s just as powerful as Superman but the key difference between the two is that Black Adam does not hold back, making him a bigger threat. 

While the comic books see Black Adam as a villain, a sinister counterpart of Billy Batson’s Shazam, the likeliness of the makers giving us an anti-hero arc is high. Let’s face it, everyone loves Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and audiences will be rooting for his supercharged character in general. But apart from just how likeable the star is, the trailer also gives us a look at Teth-Adam’s history as a slave who loses his son. In a moment from the trailer, when Hawkman says “Heroes don’t kill people.” Black Adam responds by saying, “Well, I do.” 

Black Adam arrives in cinemas on October 21 this year. The film casts Dwayne Johnson in the aforementioned titular role, Pierce Brosnan as Kent Nelson/Doctor Fate, Adis Hodge as Carter Hall/Hawkman, Noah Centineo as Albert “Al” Rothstein/Atom Smasher, Sarah Shahi as Adriana Tomaz, Quintessa Swindell as Maxine Hunkel/Cyclone and more.