Comic-Con 2022: Black Adam, Shazam!, Hall H Panel (Live Updates)

On Saturday morning, DC Comics brought Black Adam, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and more to San Diego Comic-Con. As is tradition, the films took over the Hall H stage in front of 7,000 fans with celebrity guests and filmmakers taking part in sharing insights about the upcoming projects. This also includes sneak peeks at the titles which release later this year. Throughout the panel, ComicBook.com attended and below you can find a live recap of the DC Comics movie panel from 2022’s SDCC!

Tiffany Smith is moderating the panel and kicks it off by introducing Shazam! Fury of the Gods. A sizzle reel shows some new footage, including the Shazamily telling a friend they met a Comic-Con. Zachary Levi takes the stage after the reel completes.

“We got this really cool look into all of the kids getting their super powers at the end of the first movie…we’ve all been flying around doing various missions trying to help the city of Philadelphia and the world at large,” Levi explained. The kids are still trying to figure themselves and their super powers out. “We’re all just trying to figure it out,” he said. “It adds for a really great interesting bedrock rf reality that you can connect to as a human being because we’re super heroes but we’re human beings.” Levi introduces the frailer for the film.

In the trailer, Shazam! Questions if he deserves the powers. The Flash, Aquaman, Batman, and more flash the screen as Billy contemplates them being better than him. He crashes below cars in the street and feels like a fraud. He recaps getting his owners and his family getting powers and the parents watch as the kids become heroes to go save people on a bridge. He has been telling this whole story to a pediatrician. Djimon Hounsou is back, explaining the villains are coming. Helen Mirren steals a staff and comes for Shazam! Claiming this is very personal. They sit down to eat and Shazam! tells her he knows he can win because he’s seen Fast & Furios and knows its “all about family.” Action scenes take Philadelphia, including a dragon landing in the Phillies baseball stadium and the environment shapeshifting. The Wizard tells Billy to go fight for his family and the world. Shazam! throws a truck at a dragon and narrates exactly that. It is set to Eminem’s “Let’s Get Down to Business.”

David F. Sandberg, Asher Angel, Dylan Grazer, and Lucy Liu take the stage. Grazer jokes, “Damn, I’m not the star anymore,” as Freddy gets to be a hero now. 

“He’s been doing this whole super hero thing for a while now,” Angel said. “Adulthood’s on the horizon for him and that’s a little scary because he doesn’t know what’s gonna happen when he’s 18…I’d say Billy’s main focus is maintaining the dynamic with the Shazam! family.”

“Hes leading a teenage life,” Grazer said. “He’s doing exactly what I would do if I had powers that I had to keep a secrert. I’d probably show them off to a few people.

“We had a great time,” Liu said. She teases that Calypso and her sisters are on a mission but she can’t say anything more than that. She then introduces a message from Helen Mirren and Rachel Zegler. Mirren jokes about not being able to be at Comic-Con because she started a fight here once over someone cutting a line. She calms it wasn’t a fight because “he went down instantly.”

“I absolutely loved playing Hespera,” she said. “She’s such a baddie and a bad-ass. And, Zach, I had such a lovely time kicking the shit out of you!…Yay, pussy power!”

“I can neither confirm nor deny allegations such as these, these are not questions you’re allowed to ask me on this stage right now. But no.” He jokingly stared and winked back at the fan.

Asked if there would be a DC cameo in the film at all, Sandberg dodged. “There’s a lot going on the movie,” he said.

“Everyone was so warm and welcoming,” Liu said about the set which filmed during the pandemic. “It was still an exciting time to be together and crteate something that’s gonna be entertaining and enjoyed by everybody. “

A fan asks if there will be a Shazam! 3. “Okay, fine, we’ll do another one,” Levi said. “If you guys go and see this one and you like it then there’s a good chance the bosses will want it.” He adds that he loves playing the role. The crew then dodges answering questions about crossovers with Black Adam.

Levi shares that his Chuck character would be “unstoppable” if he got the powers of Shazam!. A fan asks if the Shazmily would have a big party with the Justice League. “Heck yeah,” Levi said. 

A fan asks Liu if this was her best role ever. “I really love playing a goddess,” she said. “To be part of the DC universe and this world is the most exciting thing that has probably ever happened in my career because I grow up watching these and reading comic books. Being here now, being a woman of color, and having this really wonderful career that I have had… it was an honor to be a part of something this special…it feels like I’m in a place where I’m home.”

The panel shifts to Black Adam. Black Adam appears on the stage. Jaume Collett-Serra, Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, and Quintessa Swindell. The crew saw the movie before coming to Comic-Con. The movie is finished. “This is something different.” Hodge said of the movie. “Y’all not ready!” Welcomed to the stage is Dwayne Johnson. He has already changed into regular clothing.

“I would come here and I would bring movies here and think, ‘I hope people like it, maybe,’” he said. “To be here, to day, to watch Black Adam levitate and throw lightning like he was throwing around candy means so much.”

The director discusses coming back to work with Dwayne Johnson again. He was also attracted to the character of Black Adam and the opportunities and challenges such a character presented. He credits Johnson for pushing everyone to “do it differently, do it better,” and they wanted to “blow people’s minds” with this movie. Johnson chimes in to offer up praise to his director, who is shy and refers to this stage as his “worst nightmare,” with a laugh. 

Johnson says their goal is to “usher in a new era in the DC universe.” He wants to build out the DC universe with the Justice Society and credits the director for being able to do that so well. 

“Hawkman the savaghe, the best, the awesome warrior,” Hodge said. “Man, this is such an honor and a privilege…\for me, it’s amazing because of who Hawkman is, who Carter Hall is…to be with the JSA!…we started this! It’s amazing. It’s really fantastic. For me, I am a fan, I take it as a humble responsbiility. I love this world so much. I love the energy. I love what it is because it helps me go and just believe in creation. When I see fantastic films like this, when I see what we did…it’s a completely different experience for me so I take it as n amazing gift that I just wanna cheris hand take care of and into its next iteration after iteration nafter iteration. 

Centineo says it “blew my mind” to join the project and be a part of this “resurgence.” He was told they wanted a “youthful side” for the Justice Society. “If you’ve read the comics, you know he comes from a pedigree of heroism and a little bit of villainy…with that, he really wants to prove himself as a hero…this is a young kid that wants to find his way in life… You usually see super heroes who are fully formed version of themselves and in this film you get to see two heroes figure out what being a super hero is.”

“Playing Cyclone, to be honest, it’s like the biggest honor of my life so far,” Swindell said, fighting back emotion. The character is so… she’s so unique and in a way I’m just very protective over her because there’s this light that she has and in and of itself, her journey, the way she got her powers and the way she’s choosing to experience them…that’s just so powerful.”

A fan asked who would win in a fight between Black Adam and Superman. Johnson says, “it depends who is playing Superman.”

Footage from Black Adam takes the screen. Explorers find a tomb . Pendants start glowing before the floor does next. Above them, lgihtning. Something crashes down and sends soldiers flying. It seems Adrianna has ubnnleashed something. Black Adam rises and roasts a soldier with electricity until he becomes merely a skeleton. The skull rolls into the camera frame. The soldiers open fire. Black Adam catches a bullet before wearing all the rest. He wipes the floor with them. Throws one up in the air, leaps, and throws him back down.

Doctor Fate explains he can see the future. There JSA is gathering under the direction of Amanda Waller to stop Black Adam, referred to as a loose cannon. A ship raises from under a mansion and Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Atom Smasher, Hawkman, and more are on their way. Doctor Fate tries to reason with Black Adam but he won’t be reasoned with. Hawkman and Black Adam fight. Cyclone’s powers look gorgeous on screen. Fate claims he does not make mistakes. Action pieces and fire ensure. Teth has a choice, be a destoyer of this world or be its savior. 

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