Dwayne Johnson made quite an entrance to Comic-Con on Saturday, with ear-splitting thunder, smoke and flashes filling Hall H. From the blackness emerged a costume-clad Johnson, who appeared to float into the air above the stage. “The DC Universe will never be the same again,” Johnson said to applause.
Black Adam hails from Jungle Cruise director Jaume Collet-Serra and will feature a team new to the DC films: the Justice Society of America. That includes Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) and Dr. Fate (Pierce Brosnan). As for Johnson, he plays Black Adam — an antihero imbued with ancient power.
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Collet-Serra revealed that he locked picture on the film last night and that the cast has seen it. “That’s a big deal for me. That means no more notes,” said the filmmaker. He also shared his philosophy on the character at the center of the Warner Bros./New Line production: “This seemed like a Dirty Harry-type of character. When the system is broken and when the system is corrupt, you need someone to break the system down. I gravitated toward that.”
The team also showed off new footage from the film.
Hodge recalled getting the call from Johnson that he’d been cast “one of the best moments in my entire career.” He thought it was a prank call before being convinced it was the real Johnson on the line. As for Johnson, he had some fun with a question about frequent collaborator Kevin Hart, who is not in the film. When a child asked if Hart got jealous of Black Adam, Johnson’s response got big laughs: “Kevin Hart gets jealous of everything … also I’m pretty good at height. You are already taller than Kevin Hart.”
It was a rare appearance for Johnson at Comic-Con. Despite his stature with the Comic-Con crowd, Johnson has only rarely promoted projects at the convention. This was the star’s first visit since he was in town to promote Hercules in 2014, when he noted he was usually out of the country filming during Comic-Con.
In the closing moments, Johnson tackled an age-old question: Who would win in a fight, Black Adam or Superman? Earlier in the week, rumors circulated that Man of Steel actor Henry Cavill might show up or send a video message for the panel, but that didn’t come to fruition.
Said the actor of a matchup between the DC characters: “Pound for pound, they are pretty close. I guess it probably all depends on who is playing Superman. I will just say that.”
Finally, Johnson left the 6,500 Hall H attendees with a gift. Each would receive a free ticket to an Imax screening of Black Adam. It turns out a post card they received upon entrance was actually a ticket. The film opens Oct. 21.
