Black Adam: Dwayne Johnson Welcomes Hawkman Actor Aldis Hodge to the Shazam! Spinoff

Black Adam has found its Hawkman in the form of Aldis Hodge and Dwayne Johnson is welcoming him to the cast. Johnson has teased that his Black Adam movie would change the hierarchy of the DC movie world and it looks less and less like he was kidding every day. The film is gearing up to begin shooting in early 2021, hoping to meet a December of 2021 release date. Johnson has to finish filming Red Notice first and his co-stars and director will all begin to assemble for their comic book movie outing. Hodge, who recently starred in Invisible Man and is well known to many for his role on Leverage, is set to join the Justice Society of America.

When Johnson informed Hodge he had landed the role, Hodge was quite literally in disbelief to hear Johnson on the phone "This is Hawkman," Johnson wrote on Instagram. "A pleasure to welcome [Aldis Hodge] to Black Adam. Hawkman is a critical leading role for our movie, as he is the fiery leader of the JSA (Justice Society of America) and one of the most beloved and legendary characters in the DC Universe."

"I called Aldis personally as I wanted to surprise him that he got the role and it wound up being one of the greatest conversations I've ever had," Johnson explained. He lays out the full exchange in the Instagram post below.

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THIS IS HAWKMAN 🦅 A pleasure to welcome @aldis_hodge to BLACK ADAM. HAWKMAN is a critical leading role for our movie, as he is the fiery leader of the JSA (Justice Society of America) and one of the most beloved and legendary characters in the DC UNIVERSE. I called Aldis personally as I wanted to surprise him that he got the role and it wound up being one of the greatest conversations I’ve ever had. Aldis: Hello? DJ: Hello, I’d like to speak to Aldis. Aldis: Who is this? DJ: This is Dwayne Johnson. * long pause Aldis: Whoever this is stop playing on my phone. DJ: This is Dwayne, is this Aldis? * longer pause Aldis: This shit ain’t funny, I said stop playing on my fucking phone. DJ: Aldis, this is DJ. I just called to say thank you so much for sending in your audition - it was great and I really appreciate the efforts you made. Just wanted to say thanks and best of luck in all you do. And one more thing — welcome to Black Adam. * longest pause Aldis: I’m sorry you’ll have to hold on for a one second. * he puts the phone down and walks away and all I hear is inaudible yells 😂 Aldis: DJAYYYY OHHHHH SHIT!!!!!! * Im laughing my ass off by now. DJ: You ok? You’re gonna crush this role! We went on to have an awesome conversation full of gratitude, love and motivation. Can’t wait to work with this very talented brother. The perfect HAWKMAN. Let’s get to work. #aldishodge #jsa #hawkman 🦅 #blackadam⚡️

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Sep 25, 2020 at 3:09pm PDT

"The winged hero's story spans worlds and ages, but the bottom line is that his alter-ego, archaeologist Carter Hall, was supposedly the reincarnation of an Egyptian prince. So the ethnicity of the character is certainly open to re-interpretation," ComicBook.com'ss Kofi Outlaw said of Hawkman. "Hawkman is a unique (and challenging) character in DC Comics' lineup. 20th-century archaeologist Carter Hall discovered the mysterious "Nth" metal wings that allow him to fly, and a powerful mace to wield as his weapon. Callings of his past lives push Carter to become the superhero Hawkman, and eventually, he discovers his past life origin as Prince Khufu, who was murdered by an Nth metal dagger by a traitorous priest (alongside with his love, Chay-Ara). Carter discovers that the same cycle of events are playing out in 1940, as Chay-Ara was reborn as Shiera Sanders, while the priest also returned to cause their doom all over again."

What do you think of the Hawkman casting? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram!

Black Adam is scheduled for release on December 22, 2021.