The first teaser for the upcoming DC extended universe film Black Adam has been released, briefly debuting Dwayne Johnson as the ancient Egyptian anti-hero.
Directed by Spanish-American Jaume Collet-Serra and produced by Johnson’s own company, the upcoming movie is the latest installment into the DC extended universe. Not a great deal of information is known about the movie yet apart from the fact that it will star Johnson as Black Adam and Noah Centineo as ‘Atom Smasher’.
The latest teaser, which was tweeted by Johnson revealed more information will be released on 22 August 2020.
THEY NEEDED A HERO.
INSTEAD THEY GOT ME
Excited for the first-ever global celebration of the DC Multiverse – #DCFanDome!
This one’s just for you – THE FANS AROUND THE WORLD!
Stay healthy, my friends, and I’ll see you all on August 22nd!
-The Man In Black#BlackAdam pic.twitter.com/m3S4tySYT8— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) August 7, 2020
When production of Black Adam was first announced in 2018, some social media users argued against the fictional ancient Egyptian supervillain being played by Johnson, and not an Arab actor.
The character Black Adam first appeared as a recurring character in comic books published by DC Comics the 1970s. Born as Teth-Adam (or “Mighty Human”), the character is an ancient Egyptian who was chosen by another DC character, the wizard Shazam, to be his successor.
However, while Shazam intended for Teth-Adam to be chosen as his successor due to his moral purity, the power and strength Teth-Adam gained corrupted him and soon, as Black Adam, he overthrows and kills the ruling pharaoh and assumes the throne in Egypt.
A number of social media users expressed confusion as to why Johnson was selected to portray an ancient Egyptian and questioned whether the decision was an appropriate one, particularly in light of increased attention and criticism regarding the casting of actors to play characters from other ethnic backgrounds.
Despite these concerns, production has gone ahead and further information about the time and location where the movie takes place and other cast members remains unclear and is expected to be announced later this month.
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