Black Adam (2022)

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shevek
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Some early good news for DCU fans anticipating the Black Adam movie in 2021 which will start Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who can definitely carry a movie. Especially when it comes to hot superheroines.

There are going to be at least three. And right now these are just rumours, but this article points out that the casting choices (which may or may not be spoiled due to leaks) are quite inspired so far. We'll have to see if they take place but here are the frontrunners.

Persian actress Nazarin Bonaidi as the first-ever film iteration of O Mighty Isis. She's easily as beautiful as Joanna Cameron was in the 70s, and she'll be the first actress to truly take on the mantle since Erica Durance played Lois Lane being taken over by the goddess Isis in Smallville over a decade ago. And we're definitely not counting Zari from Legends of Tomorrow, because the Hollywood cowards were too afraid to give her the proper superhero name. Nazarin will be more than a welcome sight in that white costume with her long hair, long legs and long sandals. We've waited a lifetime for this!

Up and coming action superstar Eiza Gonzalez as the first-ever film iteration of Hawkgirl. She will look way better than the actress who played Hawkgirl across various Arrowverse shows - let's just be honest here. Eiza was easily the best aspect of the otherwise mediocre Bloodshot action flick which, while serviceable, certainly doomed the Valiant cinematic universe with its feeble showing and extremely bad scheduling just as covid was beginning to hit. But Eiza herself is just smoking hot. Nothing in her way to become the next Megan Fox if she has the right management.

Finally there is Thomasin MacKenzie. I really wouldn't have known anything about her, other than I happened to watch Jojo Rabbit and generally enjoy it. In that movie, she was the Jewish girl whom Jojo the Hitler Youth boy had a secret crush on. But don't worry, she is now 19, and while she doesn't quite have the shapeliness of a Brec Bassinger, she will probably do a good job as the
young heroine Cyclone, who (in the comics) joins the Justice Society of America as a novice member, and has a romantic dalliance with Atom Smasher.

Hopefully all of these choices will come to pass. But at least it gets us started talking about Black Adam, which could be even better than the Shazam movie. We'll see.....

https://boundingintocomics.com/2020/07/ ... lack-adam/
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Dazzle1
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Not an expert on Shazam, but isn't Black Adam a villain
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Thomasin was excellent in Jojo Rabbit so bodes well and the Rock is a genuinely good actor, got a great sense of comic timing and the confidence to improvise when needed and obviously has the physicality
How strange are the ways of the gods ...........and how cruel.

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Dazzle1 wrote:
3 years ago
Not an expert on Shazam, but isn't Black Adam a villain
Originally he was the early hero given his powers like Shazam before becoming a villain. Some modern comics still have him considering himself doin heroic actions.
Damselbinder

I guess they're gonna be doing a more funny-funny take on him, because from what I remember Black Adam was a pretty serious, pompous type of guy. Not that I think Dwayneson CAN'T act a part like that, but it seems a somewhat unusual casting choice for someone like ol' Teth-Adam.
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Black Adam is a very powerful villain who considers his actions to be justified and heroic. His origins are ancient Egyptian- he's kind of like the DC equivalent of Marvel's Apocalypse (from X-Men). He is the dictator or king of the imaginary Middle Eastern country of Kahndaq, which is somewhere around Iraq or the Gulf States. When he falls in love with Isis (Adrianna Tomaz), he makes her his queen, and she gets powers from her amulet. Can't wait to see her gorgeous transformation, hopefully it will be as good as the one in the "52" series. No hint that Adrianna's brother Amon (who becomes Osiris) will appear..it seems like this will be more of a Justice Society-based movie than some kind of Arabian Knights/Gods of Egypt type of thing.

There will almost surely be a comedic side to Black Adam's performance, just like there was with Zachary Levi as Shazam. The most important thing is that there will be a great cast, hopefully some eye-popping locations, and The Rock will be able to carry the movie if the script is good (hopefully better than Scorpion King).
Damselbinder

I'd like to hope there is *some* room in modern cinema for a character that's played completely straight without the tone of the movie being grim or dour.
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I liked her in Persons of Interest. I'm not expecting the Isis mini-skirt, but I do hope they do justice to the character.

https://deadline.com/2020/10/sarah-shah ... wMFPDFjBT8
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brdiy wrote:
3 years ago
I liked her in Persons of Interest. I'm not expecting the Isis mini-skirt, but I do hope they do justice to the character.

https://deadline.com/2020/10/sarah-shah ... wMFPDFjBT8
Yes, she was always confident and no-nonsense in Person of Interest, and looked great. Served as kind of a "Watson" to the main character's Holmes.

The article doesn't say whether or not she will be Isis. I mean, that's the assumption - although I'd never turn down TWO gorgeous
Persian women in a movie - but it's not expressly stated. Maybe the fact that she's a professor/teacher (like in the old TV show) is a clue? Just have to wait and see....
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First Black Adam trailer is out. Release is October 21. This bodes pretty well so far!



Almost no indication of any of the other superpowered costumed characters in the movie, although we've got Sarah Shahi as Adrianna Tomaz ( possibly Isis?), Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate, and two flipped characters: Aldous Hodge as Carter Hall (Hawkman) and Quintessa Swindell as Maxine Hunkell (Cyclone).
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So is this a Shazam thing or a DCEU thing or is that all just done now?

It feels done after the recent Ezra Miller stuff.

I don't know if that's a bad thing though, DC has been producing better stuff now that it's unfettered by the need for an overall connection to everything else.
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Dogfish wrote:
1 year ago
So is this a Shazam thing or a DCEU thing or is that all just done now?

It feels done after the recent Ezra Miller stuff.

I don't know if that's a bad thing though, DC has been producing better stuff now that it's unfettered by the need for an overall connection to everything else.
This is the origin intro story Of BA BEFORE he meets Shazam, after Shazam 2 then there will be a Shazam/Black Adam movie....but I BET there will be a teaser in either Shazam 2 or Black Adam to tie them together(not tie together like I would love to see those two Gods tied lol)
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Had a great time seeing this movie! It's not a masterpiece, but it's very solid action almost all the way through, and it's very testosterone-heavy.
Critics hate it because they're taking their anger out on Zaslav cancelling Batgirl;; but the fans are giving it a thumbs up on IMDB and RT.

Really no politics whatsoever (the United States or the West is not even mentioned - just a criminal group called Intergang from the comics, who are in this case supposed to be the "imperialists" running the Middle Eastern country). Just great fights, great characters, and decent special effects with a ton of slow-motion for some reason. Everyone knows about the mid-credit scene with Henry Cavill (it was the only time that the theater crowd cheered during the film), but there's also a supervillain who hasn't been in the trailers - I won't spoil that.

Sexy things to note: just Cyclone. I had my doubts because of the "gingercide", but Quintessa Swindell looks hot in her tight costume, and the character is definitely powerful but certainly not OP. She is not only a genius but also has an attractive personality, which means she is like Shuri or Ironheart but without all the snark and arrogance. Would love to see more of this beautiful heroine in future Justice Society-related outings - let's get Stargirl in there, too!

Which brings me to note the point about some the difference between the way Marvel treats Wakanda (a wonderland with kid gloves) as opposed to DC's treatment of Kahndaq, which according to DC Comics is a location on the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula (interesting that they'd locate a civilization there, when it's barren desert with almost no resources). Kahndaq isn't some wonderland; it's a downtrodden dusty crowded
Gulf State which totally gets its buildings destroyed by a massive fight between the superbeings. No force field to protect or hide it. What makes thing a bit weird in the movie is that they are using Egyptian names, and Egyptian gods to spell the word "Shazam" for Teth-Adam, but the inscriptions that Adrianna reads in the movie are all cuneiform (e.g. Sumerian). So we are supposed to believe that this country located next to Egypt worshiped Egyptian gods (much like Wakanda does, in Marvel) but didn't use hieroglyphics? There's also no hint at all of Islam in the movie, so we're supposed to believe that modern Kahndaq has no mosques or muezzins in prayer towers, and the city populace just plunges directly into hero worship of their ancient champion Teth-Adam without anyone at all objecting that it's against the way of Allah. Now we know we're in a fantasy world. No biggie, it was actually refreshing for the narrative to stay fantastic and not get bogged down in any presentism.

I guess my one big question, though, was what language they are speaking in Kahndaq, since there are many sentences spoken by several characters in the film, incluidng Black Adam. I couldn't tell at all, and it didn't sound Arabic. Since there was possibly *never* the use of a single Kahndaqi word in the comics, I can only assume someone formulated an imaginary language (if I'd my druthers, I would have simply just picked a translation into Beja - it's right near the Sinai and it's obscure enough that nobody would recognize it). But I can't find any articles about it at all, yet. Maybe soon?

Check the movie out. It was worth going to the movies and paying $12 for the first time since, uh, Bloodshot. Let us know what you think, especially about the cutie Cyclone, and whether you want to see Sarah Shahi transform into Isis in Black Adam 2 (there's no hint of that there, not even of a romance with Teth-Adam at all).
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No comments? The movie was just "OK"? Funny you should think that, so does Will Jordan (Critical Drinker).
Don't watch this clip if you don't want spoilers. But these days, as Will points out, a movie that's competent and actually entertains an audience is actually....OK!

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Someone pointed out its also a very masculine movie which was refreshing. I liked Hawkman. The other two seemed redundant. Really like Pierce as Dr. Fate.

I saw it and my theater had may 8 people in it. Casino theaters tend not to get packed.
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Was surprised how good this was. I mean it was mostly forgettable, loads of it was highly derivative, but there was a lot of interesting stuff going on about when superheroes/the USA chooses to intervene and when they don't, and the idea that Khandaq gets to stand on its own because now it has a superhero was pretty interesting.

I liked the way that the US government (because Waller was calling the shots after all) was immediately all about snatching Teth Adam and locking him up forever. No terms, no offer of a job, nope. There's a big Arab superhero we've got to lock him up was the order. And the movie was quite clear that this was bad. It's also funny that because it's DC there is no anti-woke mob criticising it for the whole America Bad plot (because when Waller is in a movie, America Bad is always a subplot).

It's kind of funny where DC finds itself now though. All these fuckups and finally where are we at now, Shazam and the adjacent characters are the most viable branch of the franchise? Weird.

Also weird that I was actually kind of pleased to see Superman back. I could go for a James Gunn Superman movie.
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Dogfish wrote:
1 year ago
It's kind of funny where DC finds itself now though. All these fuckups and finally where are we at now, Shazam and the adjacent characters are the most viable branch of the franchise? Weird.
Yes just give people what they want. Justice League vs Legion of Doom or some such thing.
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Dogfish wrote:
1 year ago
Was surprised how good this was. I mean it was mostly forgettable, loads of it was highly derivative, but there was a lot of interesting stuff going on about when superheroes/the USA chooses to intervene and when they don't, and the idea that Khandaq gets to stand on its own because now it has a superhero was pretty interesting.
No, what was interesting (and rewarding) was that this was written pretty much *exactly* as it was in the comics. Black Adam becomes the ruler and defender of Khandaq. So, if people like the movie and want go back to the New 52 story with Black Adam, they will find exactly what you described above, and they will eventually get to the sexy transformation of Isis.
Dogfish wrote:
1 year ago
I liked the way that the US government (because Waller was calling the shots after all) was immediately all about snatching Teth Adam and locking him up forever. No terms, no offer of a job, nope. There's a big Arab superhero we've got to lock him up was the order. And the movie was quite clear that this was bad. It's also funny that because it's DC there is no anti-woke mob criticising it for the whole America Bad plot (because when Waller is in a movie, America Bad is always a subplot).
The movie was 'clear' enough that this was *bad* because they want the audience to sympathize with Black Adam, even though he is an ultra-powerful anti-hero who really doesn't even need anyone's sympathy. Black Adam voluntarily submits to the captivity because he feels he is incapable of becoming a hero - it isn't 'forced' per se by the imposition of power - the Justice Society isn't powerful enough to subdue him.

"America Bad" is *never* a subplot for something involving Waller. That's a misunderstanding of nuance. The plot is "America does 'bad' things to defend the 'good' people of its nation." This has been the game of the Suicide Squad since its inception - it's a superhero Seal Team Six, with the whole idea of certain people getting their "hands dirty" to defend the public and the American way of life. There are innumerable TV shows and movies about secret teams sent in to do dirty work - I mean, everything from the A-Team to Israel's brilliant Fauda.
People *love* those kinds of shows!

[Cogent example: I just read the excellent Doom Patrol vs Suicide Squad special annual, where four members of the Suicide Squad die in battle.
It has plenty of 'politics' in the story - the premise is that Hawk is running guns to the Contras, gets captured by Sandinistas, and has to either be rescued or killed by the Suicide Squad in order to prevent the international incident of Hawk going on a show trial. Doom Patrol gets involved when a different faction of the US government sends them in to make Waller and the Suicide Squad look bad. And meanwhile the Soviet Union sends in both the Rocket Red Brigade overtly, and Stalnoivolk covertly. There's no overall 'political message' in this story. Instead, each character has their own politics and their own take on the situation, including multiple Heroes of Color (diversity, in 1988!) on both teams. It is a story about complex political intrigue, both at the White House (Erik Larsen draws one panel of Reagan!) and at the Kremlin, but without any specific political bias slanting the story overall. Today's 'woke' crowd would call it extremely 'problematic' for that reason, especially in its depiction of the Sandinistas.]

The "anti-woke" mob didn't criticize this movie because this movie had no biased messaging. The group that took over Kahndaq wasn't America, it was a corporate criminal group called Intergang (so, maybe something akin to Halliburton). The entity that imprisoned Black Adam wasn't 'America' either - it was Waller and the Justice Society. And it was an action that I'm sure both the vast majority of American citizens, and vast majority of 'anti-woke' types watching the movie would approve of. Doesn't matter if he's 'Arab' or not - there's an ultra-powerful, virtually unstoppable
amoral anti-hero running amok on Planet Earth? Of course you imprison him for the good of *all* humanity, because he could do almost anything he wanted, with no consequences.

That's the exact dilemma of the writers: how do you get audiences to sympathize with a character like that, who could easily be Mega-Hitler? You give him as much *humanity* as you can: show him interacting with his family and friends, and a struggle where he tries to find his heroism. And that's what they did. It was smart, and had nothing to do with politics, just good writing of a hero's journey.
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shevek wrote:
1 year ago

That's the exact dilemma of the writers: how do you get audiences to sympathize with a character like that, who could easily be Mega-Hitler? You give him as much *humanity* as you can: show him interacting with his family and friends, and a struggle where he tries to find his heroism. And that's what they did. It was smart, and had nothing to do with politics, just good writing of a hero's journey.
He's not mega hitler. He's the classic definition of justice - restitution and punishment. The JS and Waller are the neo definition of justice - harm prevention which always becomes appeasement of bad people.

Also the outsiders not interfering makes sense. I would imagine at some point Kandak went to the UN and told them they want sovereignty and don't want outsiders and that the international community should stop colonializing. So the international community stayed out.. that means letting Kandak deal with its internal problems... which they didn't do cause again... tada... harm prevention and appeasement. This is relevant given the US withdraw from Afghanistan after 20 years of Afghans having a gun to their heads and they snapped back to their old ways in 16 days.

So I would liken intergang to be like the Taliban in Afghanistan. Go in to take them out and its 20 years of shit coupled with an excuse to bring in western values and slip them into schools. So instead its "mind you own business". And I would imagine to the rest of the world, westerners look like little piggies rolling around in a hedonistic mud pit. Not exactly on the moral high ground.

Probably the same goes with heroes. They're good at fire fighting but taking out intergang would be a prolonged, bloody conflict not easily stopped by some heroics. Why don't they go into N. Korea for example.

But here's something I noticed both from DC and Marvel.
Wakanda's solution to social issues - closed borders and closed homogeneous society
Kandak's solution to social issues - closed borders and closed homogeneous society
MCU Atlantis's solution to social issues - closed borders and closed homogeneous society
DC Atlantis's solution to social issues - closed borders and closed homogeneous society
Odin's Asgard's solution to social issues - closed borders and closed homogeneous society
Frost Giants's solution to social issues - closed borders and closed homogeneous society
Paradise Island's solution to social issues - closed borders and closed homogeneous society
Most of the Middle Earth groups's solution to social issues - closed borders and closed homogeneous society

But yet its America, Britain etc, the most diverse nations in the world that actively promote and defend diversity, are the ones attacked.
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Mr. X wrote:
1 year ago
shevek wrote:
1 year ago
That's the exact dilemma of the writers: how do you get audiences to sympathize with a character like that, who could easily be Mega-Hitler? You
He's not mega hitler. He's the classic definition of justice - restitution and punishment. The JS and Waller are the neo definition of justice - harm prevention which always becomes appeasement of bad people.
I said didn't he *was* Mega-Hitler. I said he *could* be. That is, he has unlimited powers to kill anyone he chooses, without possessing the moral principles of, say, Superman. So he could commit mass murder if he thinks it's "justified" (for example, he could kill everyone in Intergang), which
is something that a hero like Superman would never do.
Mr. X wrote:
1 year ago
solution to social issues - closed borders and closed homogeneous society
But yet its America, Britain etc, the most diverse nations in the world that actively promote and defend diversity, are the ones attacked.
Precisely... but unlike with most of your other examples, I don't think that Black Adam desires a "closed border" and a "homogeneous society".
Did he say anything in the movie about abhorring Western values or repudiating Western religion or capitalism? No.
I mean, I think he was probably bewildered at first to wake up and see that modern Shiruta basically looked like Cairo (which I think was pretty much the idea, since in the comics, Kahndaq is located on the Sinai Peninsula). But he would have gotten over it. I mean, he is a willing passenger in the Justice Society's airship once he gets used to the idea.

I think he just wants a country that is run by its own citizens, and he probably would have no issue with legitimate outside investments, and Kahndaqis opening up McDonald's franchises, as long the profit and prosperity flows to his own people, and not to criminal outsiders like Intergang.

Unlike with the Marvel movies, where as you said, the ethnicities mentioned are pretty much xenophobic from the get-go, and usually remain so
(Wakanda still repudiates the outside world, according to Ramonda in Black Panther 2. Talokan wishes to remain secret. And so on.). Plus. they are portrayed as unreasonably perfect utopian societies for being isolationist. Kind of a Smurfland Effect.

Black Adam builds no wall, technological dome, or magical barrier around Kahndaq to keep anyone out. In fact, it is only Waller who tells him to stay in, realizing that in fact, he is an existential threat to the world because he doesn't operate on the same Western-liberal values that Superman and the Justice Society does.

In the DC Universe, there are certainly groups and organizations shrouded in secrecy, but I think the instances you mentioned are not one of them.
For example, in the DC Universe, the existence of Themyscira is known to the general public, and even if people can't normally go there except as invited guests, Wonder Woman is acknowledged as their ambassador.
And I think that in the upcoming Aquaman 2, I think that DC's version of Atlantis will prove that (ruled justly, i.e. not by Ocean Master) it isn't xenophobic to the surface world, either. I could be wrong, but we'll see.
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