Suggesting that not even Dwayne Johnson, the planet’s largest movie star, in multiple senses of the word, has the power to just will a superhero franchise into existence, it’s taken a little while for Johnson’s Black Adam movie to come to fruition. At last year’s DC FanDome event, Johnson made a big show of talking up the movie, but only had a few static panels of art to show for all the bombast. This year, though, things are looking a little different for the magically-powered anti-hero, who’s strongly linked to the Shazam family of comic book properties.
Specifically, Johnson popped into DC’s weird virtual auditorium to show off the very first footage from Black Adam, which is currently in post-production. The clip is very brief, but it does make one thing clear: We are going to see Dwayne Johnson brutally kill some dudes with his superpowers in this.
That’s not exactly a surprise—one of Black Adam’s most famous appearances in semi-recent comics saw him casually rip a dude in half. Still, the quick glimpse at the film—which shows a crew of…mercenary archeologists?…invade Adam’s tomb—makes it very clear that Adam is a frankly brutal killer, regardless of Johnson’s typical nice guy image.
What we don’t see in the clip: Any of the film’s other stars, including Noah Centineo, Aldis Hodge, Quintessa Swindell, Sarah Shahi, or Pierce Brosnan, who’s playing the film’s version of DC Comics “Magic Guy Who Is Definitely Not Just Doctor Strange,” Doctor Fate. The company is presumably holding back those reveals—as well as a clear look at Johnson in costume, since he’s just kind of a big spooky cloak dude here—until the film has spent more time in post, and is closer to actually coming out.
Speaking of: Black Adam is currently scheduled for a July 29, 2022 release date.