Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Black Adam’ Will Be The First Tentpole Since ‘Thor 4’

In a scenario that is neither “thing good” or “thing bad,” DC’ big SDCC panel was entirely about the two upcoming New Line Cinema-specific DC flicks opening in 2022. So, no teasers or sizzle reels from The Flash, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, no surprise appearances from Henry Cavill (I think he’s in Europe shooting The Witcher) and no new news in terms of anything DC-ish after the summer-of-2023 release of The Flash. Oh well, no harm in not dragging out the marketing campaigns to infinity and beyond, especially because WB knows the difference between Comic-Con hype and real-world hype. We got the first trailer for Godzilla: King of the Monsters nearly a year early at the 2018 SDCC. We got the first and only Godzilla Vs. Kong trailer three months before its March of 2021 release.

Shazam: Fury of the Gods got a big trailer A) because it’s opening this Christmas and B) DC League of Super-Pets is an ideal spot for a theatrical placement for a theatrical trailer. Black Adam got a panel because A) it’s their next movie and B) Dwayne Johnson cannot be denied. The 70-second tease for Black Adam doesn’t show us much we haven’t already seen. We got a detailed trailer in early June with Jurassic World Dominion. I wouldn’t expect another one until, I dunno, uh… I actually don’t know. Looking at the August/September slate doesn’t reveal a ton of logical places to drop the second look at a big deal DC superhero flick. Warner Bros.’ Don’t Worry Darling opens on September 23, as does Disney’s reissue of Avatar, so I guess if they can wait that long…

This could be a massive advantage for Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam when it opens on October 21. The Jaume Collet-Serra-directed film was supposed to open this Friday. Still, it was delayed (with The DC League of Super-Pets thrown in instead) due to Covid-specific postproduction delays. That specific cause is why offhand, we’re not seeing Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse until next summer, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom until next March and even Puss In Boots: The Last Wish until this December. By default, Black Adam, a Black Adam origin story and a backdoor pilot for further adventures featuring the Justice Society of America, will be the first “big” four-quadrant, family-friendly live-action tentpole since Thor: Love and Thunder in early July. It will be the first non-R-rated mega-movie in 3.5 months.

That’s why Thor: Love and Thunder isn’t dead yet, why Thor: Ragnarök opened with $123 million (four months after Spider-Man: Homecoming) and why Black Adam might break big. I’m not “predicting” Thor 3-level grosses. However, it’ll be the first of its kind since July. Dwayne Johnson is a star in the right package. It will mark the first time we see a “big-time movie star” playing a superhero (as opposed to relative newbies like Simu Liu or smaller-scale stars like Chadwick Boseman) since Ben Affleck played the Dark Knight in Batman v Superman. They’ve got that too, with Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Noah Centineo as The Atom and Pierce Brosnan classing up the joint as Dr. Fate (who, unlike Victor Von Doom, holds a Ph.D.). By the time October 21 rolls around, audiences may be chomping at the bit.