Justice for Black Adam

by Gill Pringle

In a superhero universe, there are very few stars left who haven’t made their mark in the comic book world. It’s actually harder to list the big names who haven’t been in a superhero movie at this stage.

Enter Pierce Brosnan.

Starring as Doctor Fate /Kent Nelson in the long-awaited big screen debut of DC Comics’ antihero, Black Adam, Brosnan reckons that it’s better late than never.

“I have wondered for many years: will I ever get a job in a superhero movie?” muses the 69-year-old former Bond star.

“But I think the timing was perfect for me. Dr. Fate met me at a good time in life, with the years I have on me and the experience of life that I’ve lived. And I really enjoyed playing him so enormously, and every day was a joy to go to work with my fellow actors, and we did become a family,” he says of Dr. Fate who is one of the strongest characters in DC Comics, whose powers rival those of Black Adam and Superman.

“Dr. Fate is one of the oldest characters in the pantheon, and he’s a sorcerer, but first and foremost he’s a man – he’s Kent Nelson, an archaeologist. His entry into this world came with a sacrifice and that was of his father’s death. And he then carries the mantle of Nabu and this mythology where you have to really go back to your own kind of personal self,” says the actor, who wore a motion capture suit for many of the stunts.

“This is also a man who sees the future, so he sees the death and the dying of people. And when you have those kinds of secrets in your DNA as a character, then as an actor, you can bring a subtext which is very personal.

“Dr. Fate is very close to me, and I enjoyed playing it enormously,” says the Irish actor who also starred in the Mamma Mia! franchise.

Introducing the JSA to the big screen – the Justice Society of America – of course, the film would not exist without the towering presence of Dwayne Johnson’s eponymous Black Adam.

Johnson has waited almost 15 years to assume the mantle of Teth-Adam/Black Adam, an antihero from Kahndaq, imprisoned for 5,000 years after being bestowed with almighty powers by the Egyptian Gods.

Originally set to portray Black Adam in Shazam!, instead his likeness was used in that film for a magical hologram conjured by the wizard Shazam.

Johnson, who also produced the film via his Seven Bucks banner, has tackled roles in almost every genre, and stepping into a super suit was always something that he desired.

But 15 years is a lot less than 5,000 years, and now Black Adam is freed from his earthly tomb, teaming up with Aldis Hodge’s Carter Hall/Hawkman, Noah Centineo’s Al Rothstein/Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell’s Maxine Hunkel/Cyclone and Sarah Shahi’s Adrianna, ready to unleash his own unique form of justice on the modern world.

“Black Adam actually came onto my radar when I was really young,” says Johnson. “I loved comic books, and I was always a DC kid. I gravitated towards Black Adam because he was one of the very few of the superheroes, supervillains, antiheroes – however you want to categorise him – who had brown skin and looked like me. Plus, he was always a badass.”

While the road to the big screen was long, Johnson’s connection to the character and his story remained strong. “Black Adam is something that has been a part of my DNA and my soul for many, many years,” he says.

Never one for false modesty, he believes that he has similar characteristics to Black Adam. “Well, aside from flying and being able to shoot electricity on my hands, I would say [the similarities] would be conviction and passion. Black Adam does have a strong conviction,” he says in something of an understatement.

“Black Adam is a pretty passionate guy about what he believes in. And it was truly an honour to play him and deliver him to the world. But I also want to acknowledge that not only was it an honour for me to play Black Adam and have him come to life, but it was truly an honour to make this film and introduce the JSA to the world. And as many of you out there know, the JSA was the very first superhero group, even before the Justice League,” he asserts.

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, with whom Johnson worked with on last year’s Jungle Cruise, Black Adam’s co-producers Beau Flynn and Seven Bucks’ Hiram Garcia probably know Johnson better than most, having worked with him on San Andreas and Jumanji: The Next Level respectively.

“This is a character that we were thrilled to get off the page and put on the screen. It was really important to Black Adam, even though he’s been in prison for 5000 years, that he be very modernised, in terms of making sure it fits into today’s world as well as be true to the way that Black Adam measures justice, which can be very powerful,” says Flynn.

“We wanted to make sure we kept that intact. He can be very aggressive, but at the same time, he has a real understanding of morality and code to his own point of view, and it’s something that we wanted to really fulfil, that antihero version of a superhero, ensuring it was true to the genesis of the comic book while still fitting into a modern global audience.”

If Johnson has long been attached to Black Adam, then the producers got to flex their creativity in choosing the actors to portray the JSA.

“That was probably the best time that Hiram had on making this movie because look at this cast?” asks Flynn.

“This is an extraordinary cast with some of the greatest actors of our time. Pierce Brosnan for example. When we were able to secure Pierce, that was a huge win for us – especially to do service to a character as beloved and as powerful as Dr. Fate. Pierce was always our first choice, and then when Hiram and I were able to talk to him, he was so excited because he said all of his peers had done superhero movies or Harry Potter films and he had not done one. So, to be able to be the producers that get to put Pierce Brosnan in a superhero film is so cool.

“And we got to do something that was really interesting with Atom Smasher and Cyclone, which is very rare in filmmaking today,” continues Flynn who even asked Centineo and Swindell to chemistry read together to make sure they were right for the roles.

“A lot of times, you just have to kind of cross your fingers when you’re casting roles but when we were able to put Noah and Quintessa together, the minute we saw them together, we knew that was a homerun. We really have an extraordinary cast, top to bottom, and I think when people see them together, it’s something that is very memorable and intoxicating.”