Even though Warner Bros. removed the DC Comics spinoff Black Adam from their upcoming release schedule, they’re still at work to fill out the cast for Dwayne Johnson‘s superhero debut and are now adding a key character. According to a new report from The Illuminerdi, Black Adam is reportedly looking to cast Person of Interest and Young Justice actress Sarah Shahi as Isis in the film. Isis is a major character in Adam Teth’s rise as Shazam’s Champion, becoming his partner and wife as the two dismantle slavery in the ancient nation of Khandaq.
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In the comics, Isis plays a major part in the post-Infinite Crisis series 52, the weekly title that documented Black Adam’s rise as a major player in the DC Universe. In that series, Adam fell in love with Isis and she eventually came to possess a powerful amulet that gave her abilities on par with Adam himself.
A version of the character currently appears in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, though the character of Zari has a much different origin and possesses an artifact that grants her control over wind. The show runners of The CW series confirmed that Zari is their own take on Isis, though that’s where the similarities end.
Shahi is probably best known for her role in Person of Interest as Sameen Shaw, an assassin who comes to join the team in later seasons. She also has some DC Comics experience, having voiced the Suicide Squad member Killer Frost in the first season of the animated series Young Justice.
Johnson would play opposite to Shahi in a cast that has been packed with Noah Centineo and Aldis Hodge playing Atom Smasher and Hawkman respectively. This has been a passion project for The Rock, who previously confirmed that he was waiting for the right moment to make his superhero debut.
“Black Adam has been with me for over ten years now,” Johnson said on Instagram. “And that gives you an idea of how passionate I am with this project, how passionate our Seven Bucks is about this project. Warner Brothers, New Line Cinema, DC, they have been so incredibly supportive over the years. This has been over 10 years. In 2008, we started talking about this, so it has required a patience by all of us as partners and I am a much different man and an actor than I was 10 years ago.”
He added, “Even then, ten years ago, I just wanted to wait for the timing to feel right and it feels like now with the man that I’ve become, I’ll be able to bring a little bit of my own life lessons and philosophies and engrain them in the DNA of this character.”
Black Adam does not currently have a release date.
