Black Adam: The Rock Reveals What Attracted Him to Black Adam

DC's upcoming Black Adam movie is one that has been a long time in coming for star Dwayne Johnson. The film has been in various forms of development for over a decade and now with that long road to screen set to come to an end next year when the film hits theaters, Johnson is opening up about what attracted him to the DC character. During the Black Adam panel at DC FanDome on Saturday, Johnson explained that he loves the character's status as an antihero as well as how his story informs his sense of justice.

"You know, as many of you know, Black Adam has been with me for a very, very long time. This has been a project that has been in development for a very long time, over 10 years, 10 years plus with myself," Johnson said. "Producer Hiram Garcia, who's the president of Seven Bucks Productions, I mean this has been in our DNA and then our wiring for such a long time."

Johnson continued, "One of the main things that I always loved and admired about Black Adam was, number one, he was an antihero. He is an antihero. I love that. I love that the line is a little burred. I love that he doesn't walk a line. I love that he has his own sense of Black Adam justice."

He also said that Black Adam's origins as a slave -- something from the New 52 version of the character's history -- were very important to him as well.

"I also love the fact that his origins are that of a slave," Johnson said. "When the origins are that of somebody who was enslaved, as people enslaved his family and he felt the burdens and the pressures of a larger entity holding him down until he couldn't take it anymore. And when you come from that place, it's just a different energy that you have. So, I've always loved that about Black Adam, which informs how Black Adam operates, how he sees justice, how he delivers justice and I've always appreciated that about Black Adam."

Johnson has also spoken before about the significance of Black Adam being an antihero. He previously told ComicBook.com that his Black Adam would be going on a bit of a journey -- and it's one that won't necessarily see him become a hero.

"Black Adam, how he starts, he starts off as a villain," Johnson explained. "Then, he becomes an anti-hero. And then he might become a hero, or he might not."

Black Adam is set to hit theaters in December 2022.