Since I had some spare time today I thought I'd dig into Black Adam a little bit. I want to stress that I haven't spoken to anyone working on the film but I have some informed speculation that might shine some light on the project and what it could turn out like.
I was speaking to someone in the industry over Xmas and they were talking about the state of 'star vehicles' under the current studio system, one such star was Dwayne Johnson. This person said that they had heard Johnson and his team were no longer looking for projects that featured him as the solo protagonist and were instead looking for more 'ensemble' films. The reason being that audiences preferred Dwayne Johnson as the leader of a gang (Hobbs and Shaw & Jumanji for example) rather than a 'man on a solo mission' (more recently Rampage and Skyscraper, both of which disappointed) and that's how the studios see him working best in future.
Showing this strategy in action he has Jungle Cruise coming up where he's partnered with Emily Blunt, among others, and then Red Notice on Netflix with Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds. With this in mind I think that
Black Adam will in fact be a stealth Justice Society film. Black Adam will have Johnson as the (titular) protagonist but it will be more of an action/adventure ensemble closer in tone to Hobbs & Shaw rather than something like Man Of Steel.
If I had to guess a (very, very rough) structure could for Black Adam be something like --
ACT 1- Black Adam's origins set in the past. We see how he got his powers. Something happens to him and he becomes frozen or entombed somewhere...
ACT 2- He awakens to find himself in the current day. Seeing him as a threat the Justice Society are dispatched to stop him. Black Adam battles the JS team.
ACT 3 - Black Adam and Justice Society realise that they have a common enemy and must team up to stop the true antagonist. Black Adam joins (??) the JS.
Just as people were erroneously suggesting that The Batman was going to be set in the nineties I don't see Black Adam being set entirely in ancient Egypt (or wherever) as WB will want this to be a four quadrant film that appeals to 12 year olds . It's also worth noting that a rumoured storyline for an earlier Suicide Squad 2 script saw an entombed Black Adam being treated as a WMD esque device that had to be retrieved. it's entirely possible that this 'entombing' still forms part of the Black Adam script though not Gunn's Suicide Squad film.
Establishing the Justice Society opens up the DCU even more in terms of characters and storylines. With Shazam already under Dwayne Johnson's production company's belt Black Adam will be the next step in their plans to create a slate of DCU films that will form their own corner of the DCU. Even Johnson's manager and co-producer says that they are 'starting' with Black Adam...
-- suggesting that they are viewing this as more than a franchise/trilogy unto itself. As has already been rumoured this move could see HAWKMAN and DR FATE
potentially spun-off in their own films, which Dwayne Johnson and Co would of course produce, if they prove popular with audiences. All in all if Black Adam is a huge hit and they successfully launch these characters and the Justice Society as a whole it could prove very lucrative for all concerned.
With that said I also don't think that this proposed 'Black Adam vs Shazam' storyline will play out the way some think it will. I don't think Warners are positioning Black Adam and Shazam to headline a 'versus' film having already learned their lessons from BvS. I'm not saying that won't be a storyline that will play but i don't see Dwayne Johnson battling a much of kids (albeit as adults) anytime soon.
When Johnson announced the date of the Black Adam film on Twitter the official accounts of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman all sent Tweets welcoming him into the DCU and that, to me, speaks volumes about how the studio intends to position Black Adam within the DCU. I think Black Adam (and the JS alongside Shazam) will become a cornerstone of the DCU within their own silo similar to how Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn has become the figurehead for the Suicide Squad franchise.
https://screenrant.com/black-adam-movie-jsa-justice-society-dceu/
Also, and apologies if this has been revealed already and I missed it, I heard that Matt Tolmach (former Sony executive and co-producer on both Venom and Jumanji films) will board Black Adam as co-producer with Johnson's Seven Bucks. Not sure this informs us about the possible direction of the project but, if true, it is interesting especially since Black Adam is taking the Xmas spot that a Jumanji 3 could have possibly had.
This person also made a great point about WB and how they will now ramp up production of DC films. I said that they are releasing three films in 2021 and they said no, they are releasing
three films in six months which is true. June for The Batman all the way to December for Black Adam. It's entirely possible that WB release as many as four films (for varying genres with the DCU) annually if 2021 works out.
As always, we shall see.
