New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures has announced that Black Adam will make its streaming debut on HBO Max. Fans will now be able to stream Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the titular DC antihero, who was originally introduced as a villain for the superhero Shazam, on Friday, December 16.
Black Adam was pitted up against Marvel’s highly-anticipated Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in theaters, so HBO Max is giving audiences another opportunity to see the wrestling legend and actor in action. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who is also behind Johnson’s recent Disney movie Jungle Cruise, the film has been in the works since the early 2000s.
Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, and Sohrab Noshirvani also wrote the film’s story, based on the characters created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck. The Black Adam synopsis reads:
“In ancient Kahndaq, the slave Teth Adam was gifted the almighty powers of the gods. But he used those powers for vengeance and was imprisoned. Now, 5,000 years later, he is freed and once again wields his dark sense of justice onto the world. Refusing to surrender, Teth Adam is challenged by a team of modern-day heroes known as the Justice Society—Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Atom Smasher and Cyclone—who seek to return him to eternal captivity.”
Black Adam features a number of classic DC characters such as Aldis Hodge (City on a Hill, One Night in Miami) as Hawkman, Noah Centineo (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) as Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell (Voyagers, Trinkets) as Cyclone and Pierce Brosnan (the James Bond and Mamma Mia! franchises) as Doctor Fate. Besides Johnson, the cast also includes Sarah Shahi (Sex/Life, Rush Hour 3). Marwan Kenzari (Murder on the Orient Express, Aladdin), Mohammed Amer (Mo, Ramy) and Bodhi Sabongui (A Million Little Things). The film was also notable for including Henry Cavill‘s Superman in the post-credits scene, setting up a DC Universe future for the character that now seems in jeopardy.
In addition to Johnson, the film’s producers are Beau Flynn, Hiram Garcia, and Dany Garcia. Executive producers include Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener, Dave Neustadter, Chris Pan, Walter Hamada, Adam Schlagman, Geoff Johns, Eric McLeod and Scott Sheldon. The creative team includes Oscar-nominated director of photography Lawrence Sher (Joker), production designer Tom Meyer (Real Steel), Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer (Life of Pi, Wonder Woman) as well as editors Mike Sale (Red Notice, Skyscraper) and John Lee (Anyone Home?).
Check out the trailer for Black Adam below.
