Black Adam: Why The Rock’s DC Movie Has Taken So Long

After encountering many obstacles for years, Black Adam has finally got a release date, confirming the introduction of the character in the new wave of films from DC’s Extended Universe. Black Adam has been trapped in development limbo for too long, and was close to either being introduced in another film or get his own, but there was always something that pushed the project back.

The DCEU, which began in 2013 with Man of Steel, hasn’t had the smoothest run, and it’s currently going through a shift that will hopefully revive it and give it the boost it needs. The confirmed slate of DC films for this new era are Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman 1984, The Batman, The Suicide Squad, The Flash, Aquaman 2, and now Black Adam. This last one will move forward with Dwayne Johnson as the title character, Jaume Collet-Serra as director, and with a script by Adam Sztykiel.

Although Black Adam is not the first DCEU film to come across with multiple obstacles that have delayed its production, it does stand out because his introduction has been in development for a bit over a decade. Black Adam will finally release in 2021, but why did it take so long?

Dwayne Johnson Has Been Attached To Black Adam For 12 Years

If there’s something Black Adam hasn’t struggled with is finding its lead man. Dwayne Johnson has actually been attached to play the main role since 2007, when New Line Cinema was working on a live-action Shazam! film that would have introduced Black Adam. The project had Peter Segal attached as director and was apparently ready to enter production, but it was ultimately shelved in 2009 – right at the beginning of the ongoing superhero trend.

Why Black Adam Has Had So Many Delays

The project was resurrected after the success of Man of Steel, with Johnson still attached to play Black Adam as he was still planned to be introduced in Shazam!. However, in 2017 it was revealed that Black Adam is getting his own film but still as part of the DCEU, thus he didn’t appear in Shazam! – but the film did help set up his solo adventure. Still, Black Adam was teased to have cameo appearances in Shazam! and Suicide Squad 2 (before James Gunn was brought in as director), but those ended up being just rumors. Collet-Serra was confirmed as director in June, 2019 and Johnson himself shared that Black Adam will start filming in July 2020, with Warner Bros giving it an official release date a few weeks later.

Although Black Adam was originally intended to be introduced alongside Shazam, it seems weird that the studio, already having Johnson on board to star, kept delaying his debut just because Shazam! couldn’t find its way out of development limbo. Black Adam’s delay can also be attributed in part to Johnson’s always busy agenda, as he has been working non-stop for the past decade. Patience is paying off and Black Adam is officially on track to finally join the DCEU and, hopefully, help its improvement.