It’s no secret the DC Extended Universe has had a somewhat rocky past, but that might all be about to change according to the stars of Black Adam.
DC’s latest blockbuster film is a passion project long in the making from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who plays the titular antihero. The movie explores Black Adam’s (or Teth Adam as he’s known in the film) origin story after he’s gifted god-like powers in Ancient Egypt and is broken out of his prison in the modern day.
For months leading up to the film’s release, Johnson has been saying that Black Adam will alter the hierarchy of power in the DC universe. But what does that really mean?
So when Gizmodo Australia was given a chance to speak to the cast of Black Adam, there was one thing we wanted to know.
“When [Dwayne Johnson] says the hierarchy is about to change, he means it,” Aldis Hodge, who plays Carter Hall/Hawkman, told us. “You know, people have been looking for an evolution in how they experience the superhero realm, from the storytelling to the visuals, to the action.”
“When it comes to the action sequences there are moments in here where we’re introducing new ways to understand and see exactly what a fight is and what it can be,” he continued.
“When you’re talking about heroes who come from a God-level perspective, right? I mean Doctor Fate has nearly God-level power, as does Black Adam. But you’re getting so many creative ways, angles, shots, sequences, they really did a fantastic job.”
Another exciting aspect of Black Adam is that it also brings the Justice Society of America to the big screen for the first time. Hodge’s Hawkman leads a team of heroes that includes Pierce Brosnan’s Doctor Fate, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher and Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone.
For Swindell, Johnson’s comments about Black Adam refer to the character’s sheer superhero power, which rivals that of anything seen in the DC universe before.
“[Black Adam] really does shift the landscape of DC, because you now have someone who competes against Superman, you have someone who competes against the Justice League, who is a threat that is rising around the world,” Swindell explained.
“So I think what this movie does is it sets a foundation for a new era of DC, to usher in new heroes, to usher in the existence of the Justice Society. It just elaborates on such a dense catalogue that DC has, that hasn’t really been touched yet.”
Centineo agreed that it’s the wealth of possibilities that stem from Black Adam’s new cast of characters that make it a movie worth paying attention to.
“This is a completely new world,” he said. “So when he says the hierarchy of power is going to change, we have five, six, seven new characters that have completely different storylines that can go in different directions and connect if we want to with existing worlds. But this is a brand new part of the universe, it’s a new galaxy that gets to be explored.”
“When you see the movie you can understand how we’ve set the groundwork to really grow this,” Centineo added.
Speaking of expanding the universe, the inclusion of the Justice Society in Black Adam allowed many actors to enter the world of superheroes for the first time.
While Pierce Brosnan is no stranger to major franchises, it was a case of the right place, right time, and right character that drew him to the DC universe.
“I think for me it was the script, it really popped off the page for me and the character of Doctor Fate did,” Brosnan said.
“I think Doctor Fate and myself find ourselves at the right space and time on the stage. It was a great honour, and remains so, to portray this character for the first time in cinematic history, as it was for all of us as the Justice Society.”
The Justice Society is tasked with restraining Black Adam after he’s unleashed onto the city of Kahndaq and embarks on a murderous rampage. However, the dissent between their characters didn’t seem to filter down to the Black Adam cast, with Brosnan speaking highly of his time during production.
“It was just a delightful flow of energy every day on the set no matter how difficult the scenes were,” the actor said.
“I was just bedazzled by the work of Aldis and Quintessa and Sarah and Noah and the commitment to the work. To sit and try and work out your character, and have conviction and believability of yourself in the role and then to let it fly. It was just a joy to behold.”
Hodge added that what really spoke to him from the film was its sense of tone, which strikes a balance between darkly mysterious and moments of comedic levity.
“It’s taking the fans into a new era, a new standard, when it comes to the superhero genre,” Hodge said.
Black Adam releases in Australian cinemas on October 20.