The Old Guard Star Joins Dwayne Johnson In Black Adam
The DC Extended Universe is about to extend a little further with the upcoming film Black Adam, which is currently scheduled to premiere on December 21, 2021, barring any complications from the COVID-19 pandemic. Whenever it does premiere, it will bring one of DC's most notoriously absent characters to the big screen for the first time. Black Adam is one of DC Comics' most powerful characters, an ancient Egyptian who became stuck out of time and survived to the present, where he first became a supervillain and later transitioned into a sorta-antihero. Most importantly, he's one of the few DC characters who can give Superman a fair fight.
The film already has an impressive cast, which will be led by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Although it always felt inevitable, this will be The Rock's first major superhero character. Along with The Rock, Black Adam will star Noah Centineo, Aldis Hodge and Quintessa Swindell. They'll also be joined by the breakout star of Netflix's recent sci-fi actioner The Old Guard. Since he's shown an ability to handle both action and comedy, he should fit right in.
His role hasn't been announced, but we have a pretty good idea where this is going
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Black Adam's newest castmember is Marwan Kenzari, better known as Jafar in Guy Ritchie's 2019 Aladdin remake, and even better known as "Hot Jafar" from Internet memes. The Dutch-Tunisian Kenzari got his start in Dutch cinema, with his breakout role coming in 2013 with the crime drama Wolf. After his scene-stealing turn as Jafar, Kenzari followed that up with a role alongside Charlize Theron in the 2020 Netflix thriller The Old Guard, about a squad of immortal mercenaries.
Warner Bros. hasn't announced which character Kenzari might playing yet, but we've got a pretty good idea where this is going. Per Variety, Black Adam will also introduce DC's long-running superhero team The Justice Society of America, including four members: Atom Smasher (Centineo), Hawkman (Hodge), Cyclone (Swindell), and Doctor Fate. Doctor Fate is the only major role that hasn't received a casting announcement, ergo Kenzari is likely going to play Doctor Fate.
The last known Doctor Fate from the source material is Egyptian-American medical student Khalid Nassour. Kenzari isn't Egyptian, but then again, neither is The Rock, so we've got a good feeling about this prediction.