The first trailer for Black Adam has been released and sets the stage for the Justice Society to be introduced to mainstream audiences in theaters.
Dwayne Johnson provides narration as the titular character, who reveals he has died in a past life before being reborn as something akin to a god.
Now whether this is a simplification of what has happened to him or if the film is looking to make changes in this adaptation from the comics remains to be seen.
On one hand, it would be understandable if at this time they would like to distance the character from the familiar origin story with the Rock Eternity and the wizard Shazam, in order to give viewers something fresh. But at the same time, if they plan on having a ‘Shazam v. Black Adam’ story down the road, the parallels will only be more overt, as they are in the comics.
But similar to the comics, this Black Adam is clearly in that gray area between hero and villain. When Hawkman, played by Aldis Hodge, states that there are heroes and villains, but heroes don’t kill people; Johnson’s character coldly states “Well I do.”
With so much power but also so much bitterness towards the world, Black Adam can either be this world’s destroyer or its savior depending on how he chooses to unleash his form of justice, as stated by the Justice Society’s Dr. Fate.
Catch Black Adam in theaters on October 21, 2022. Stay tuned for more #BlackAdam coverage.
