Michael Keaton will once again don his giant metal wings as he plays Adrian Toomes, AKA The Vulture, in Morbius, which arrives on January 28, 2022. While Keaton appeared in the first trailer for Morbius, back in January 2020, the actor was confirmed to be reprising the Spider-Man villain in Sony’s upcoming film in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
While he’s played Marvel’s Vulture and DC’s Batman, Keaton says he’s never been a fan of comics and doesn’t think he’s ever seen a comic book movie. So when it came to reprising the role as Vulture, which he first played in the MCU’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, the Morbius filmmakers discussed recent Marvel plot points and explained the universe to him.
“I’m nodding like I know what the f*** they’re talking about,” Keaton told THR. “I go, ‘Uh-huh.’ And I’m thinking, ‘You may as well be explaining quantum physics right now to me. All I know is I just know my guy. And I know the basics.’ So finally, they were looking at me, and they just started laughing. They said, ‘You don’t know what we’re talking about, do you?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t, no idea what you’re talking about.'”
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the release date of Morbius has shifted quite a bit. Sony has declared the movie is not part of the MCU–it’s a part of its own “Sony Pictures’ Universe of Marvel characters.” However, with the ending of Loki and Keaton reprising his role of Vulture–which was featured in a Sony Marvel movie that took place in the MCU–anything is technically possible. It’s a multiverse, and it’s all very confusing.
Sony’s next Marvel movie is Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which arrives in theaters on October 15. In a recent trailer, we finally got to see Carnage, which will be played by Woody Harrelson.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl and Pokemon Legends: Arceus will be compatible with Pokemon Home, but not at launch. Near the end of the latest Pokemon Presents stream, The Pokemon Company confirmed that support for the upcoming Switch games will be added to Pokemon Home sometime in 2022.
Once support has been implemented, you’ll be able to transfer Pokemon you caught in Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl and Pokemon Legends: Arceus and store them in Pokemon Home. Beyond that, however, details are scant. It remains unclear if transfers will be one-way, as they are with Pokemon Go, or if you’ll be able to bring compatible Pokemon you’ve caught in other games from Home into Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl or Legends.
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Like Pokemon Bank for 3DS, Pokemon Home is a cloud service that lets you store Pokemon you’ve caught in different games in one place and move them between titles. The service has free and paid plans. The latter costs $16 USD annually and offers more benefits, including significantly more storage capacity, a Judge function that lets you see a Pokemon’s base stats, and the ability to transfer monsters from Pokemon Bank.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl arrive on November 19 and are remakes of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl for the DS. While they stay largely faithful to the original titles, Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl also introduce a few new features such as Pokemon Hideaways–new areas within the Sinnoh Grand Underground that feature different terrain and Pokemon.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus, meanwhile, is a new adventure set in ancient Sinnoh, when the region was known as Hisui. In addition to new gameplay elements, Legends is introducing a few brand-new Pokemon to the series, including a regional evolution of Stantler called Wyrdeer and a regional evolution of Basculin called Basculegion. The existing Pokemon Growlithe and Braviary will also have new regional variants in Hisui.
Michael Keaton will be one of two Batmen appearing in the upcoming The Flash movie. A new profile on Keaton goes in-depth on why the actor agreed to take up the cowl again, and how he was initially confused by how his Batman will even appear in The Flash.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Keaton says he agreed to appear in the movie after being impressed by the script, written by Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson. Though if Keaton is being honest, it took him three tries at the script to understand how his Batman returns.
“I had to read it more than three times to go, ‘Wait, how does this work?’” Keaton says. “They had to explain that to me several times.”
But Keaton says it’s not the fault of anyone but his own given that the concept of a multiverse is sometimes difficult to grasp.
“I’m not being arrogant, I hope, about this. I don’t say it like, ‘I’m too groovy.’ I’m stupid. There’s a lot of things I don’t know about. And so, I don’t know, I just kind of figured it out, but this was different,’ Keaton admits.
While The Flash plot is under wraps, many have inferred that it will adapt some storylines from Flashpoint, a story arc where Barry Allen uses his speed to travel back in time and save his mother. Only this also messes up the future.
While it likely won’t be a direct adaptation, this could help introduce multiple Batmans (Ben Affleck is set to return for the movie as well) and potentially refresh the DC universe for future films.
Keaton, who turned down reprising the role of Batman in Batman Forever after disagreeing with the script, is back for The Flash because of the script and director Andy Muschietti’s vision. But Keaton always imagined returning to the role.
“Frankly, in the back of my head, I always thought, ‘I bet I could go back and nail that motherf*cker.’” Keaton confides.
Sony just kicked off two new sales across the PlayStation Store, slashing the prices on literally thousands of games in a myriad of genres. Through September 1, you can take advantage of a bunch of discounts on titles like Celeste, Doom Eternal, God of War, Hyper Light Drifter, and Yakuza 0. Keep in mind you still have until August 19 to shop the PSN Summer Sale as well.
The Games Under $20 Sale is back and drops the price of some 300 big-name PlayStation games. This includes a two-pack bundle featuring Far Cry 4 and Far Cry Primal for $20 and the Ultimate edition of Dragon Ball FighterZ for just $16.50. Yakuza games are also on sale, including both Kiwami entries, as are PlayStation exclusives like Bloodborne, God of War, and Persona 5.
The Indies Sale discounts over 1,300 games. While the sale prices vary wildly, you can get titles like Celeste for $6, Goat Simulator for $2.50, and Hyper Light Drifter for $7. Other indies, such as Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and Little Nightmares, are also pretty cheap.
Below, you can check out the full sales (as there’s far too much to mention here) along with our picks for some of the best deals to grab this week. Keep in mind PS Plus members will save even more on select games–make sure you’re signed in to grab those extra discounts.
The next movie in the Captain America franchise will star Anthony Mackie, according to a report from Deadline. Mackie will once again play Sam Wilson, donning the mantle of Captain America, which he played in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
According to Deadline’s sources, not else is known about the Marvel movie at this time. Captain America 4 was originally announced back in April. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s head writer, Malcom Spellman, is spearheading the new movie. Spellman will write the script with Dalan Musson–both of whom worked on the Marvel Disney+ series together. No director has been attached at this time.
As for some of Wilson’s friends he’s made along the way, like Bucky (Sebastian Stan), it’s unknown who else could appear in the film. Seeing as Disney+ show ended with US Agent (Wyatt Russell) being taken under the wing of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus)–who also appeared in Black Widow’s post-credit sequence–there is a chance they could both return for the film. And that means there’s a possibility of a newly rebuilt Hydra. But again, no details for the upcoming series have been revealed, so this is just speculation based on where Wilson’s story ended on the Disney+ show.
Marvel’s next movie release is Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which arrives only in theaters on September 3. While the movie isn’t out yet, there have been a few reactions from critics on Twitter that praise the upcoming film. The film’s star Simu Liu recently responded to Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s remark calling the theatrical-only release of the movie “an experiment.”
The Halo-inspired portal shooter Splitgate is having its time in the limelight, and a huge amount of people have flocked to the game during its ongoing beta test. Since its launch in July, the open beta has hit 10 million downloads–but this has come with some growing pains.
Along with this milestone, developer 1047 Games also announced that it is going to keep the game in open beta “for the foreseeable future.” The free-to-play beta’s current battle pass will end on August 24, though, meaning players only have about a week left to either level up through gameplay or buy levels to get all of the pass’s items.
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There’s no word yet on when the beta will end, but we do know that the game’s full release is delayed indefinitely. According to a press release, the studio realized that it cannot simply throw more server capacity at the game; rather, its scalability issues require more complex fixes. The developer teased more news coming at Gamescom on August 25, though, so we will likely have to wait for clarity on the game’s timeline.
Despite originally coming out in early access way back in 2019, Splitgate’s popularity has surged this summer and shows no signs of abating. The studio originally planned to launch the 1.0 version of the game at the end of August, but the massive influx of new players and corresponding stress on its infrastructure led 1047 Games to make the decision to delay the game.
Although its full release is likely a ways away, you can still dig into Splitgate’s beta right now for free on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. In addition, the studio said that it’s working on current-gen upgrades for the game, although it gave no timeline for release.
Finding extra space on your PS4 hard drive is almost as difficult as finding a PS5. But, if you do have one, you may notice the memory filling up quickly. Once you install Red Dead Redemption 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and a few more of the best PS4 games, your PS4 will likely be running low on available space. As a result, you may find a 1TB hard drive filling up surprisingly quickly, especially if you play live-service games with frequent updates. Thankfully, you can upgrade your PS4 hard drive by either swapping for a higher capacity internal drive or using an external portable drive.
Adding an external drive is the easiest and most convenient option, but you’ll also want to consider upgrading the internal drive. The benefit with an internal drive, specifically an SSD, is that it improves boot times and make your PS4’s operating system run a bit quicker and more smoothly. You can, however, get the benefits of faster load times with internal or external SSDs. You could even swap out the internal drive and add an external SSD to really maximize both key points: speed and capacity. The PS4 supports up to 8TB of internal storage and 8TB of external storage. We’ve outlined the steps for upgrading your PS4’s hard drive below.
Finding PS4 model number
Before you attempt to install a new internal hard drive, you first need to identify your PS4 model. It could be an original PS4, a PS4 Slim, or a PS4 Pro, and if you don’t already know which version you have, you can identify it by finding the model number on the console. The model number for an original PS4 will begin with CUH-10xx, CUH-11xx, or CUH-12xx and is located on the bottom of the console, toward the back. The PS4 Slim model number is situated at the back of the console, to the right of the power port and will begin with CUH-20xx. Meanwhile, the PS4 Pro model number begins with CUH-70?? and can be found above the ports on the back of the system. On your console, the “xx” will be replaced with actual digits.
Backing up saves and the tools you need
Before you can start replacing your internal hard drive, you need to make sure you have a few items. First, you need a Phillips-head screwdriver (and for the PS4 Pro, a fairly long one). You also need a USB stick in order to install an up-to-date PS4 firmware after the drive is installed. Once you install your new hard drive, you can visit PlayStation’s website to download the necessary files.
You’ll also want to back up your saves. You have two options here: If you’re a PS Plus subscriber, you can back up your saves to the cyuloud and retrieve them once you’ve installed the drive. If you’re not a PS Plus subscriber, you will need to plug a USB stick or external hard drive into your PS4 and transfer over all the data you would like to keep.
Of course, you also need a new internal hard drive, and we’ve highlighted a few recommendations above. How much storage space do you actually need, though? It really depends on your PS4’s current capacity (500GB, 1TB, or 2TB) and your gaming habits, so you’ll have to make the right decision for you. All 2.5-inch internal drives will work with the PS4. You may want a modest capacity SSD to pair with an external drive, but it’s up to you. Just know that internal SSDs with more than 2TB of storage are extremely pricey.
How to upgrade hard drive for PS4 Pro
PS4 Pro
Turn off and unplug your PS4 Pro and place it, upside down, on a table or other flat surface.
In order to access the hard drive, you first need to use your finger to remove the plastic covering all the way to the right on the back of the console.
Once the plastic covering is removed, you should be able to see the hard drive mounting bracket, which is held in place by a screw.
Use the screwdriver to remove the screw and pull the mounting bracket out. You should see four screws holding the hard drive in its mounting bracket.
Remove all four with the screwdriver and pull the hard drive out of its mounting bracket. Then, insert the new hard drive.
From here, you will go back through the steps in reverse. Replace the four screws to secure the hard drive into the mounting bracket. Reinsert the mounting bracket into the PS4 Pro, and replace the screw to secure it in place. Finally, put the plastic covering back in place.
How to upgrade hard drive for PS4 Slim
PS4 Slim
To begin, turn off your PS4 Slim, unplug it, and place it, facing away from you, on a table or other flat surface.
On the right side, you should see an L-shaped plastic piece that covers the PS4’s back right corner.
Slide it to the right to remove it, revealing the hard disc drive. Pull on it to remove it.
The hard drive is held in the mounting bracket by four screws which you will need to remove with the screwdriver.
Take out the old hard drive and replace it with the new one, and replace the screws.
Put the hard drive back in the console and replace the L-shaped plastic piece.
How to upgrade hard drive for PS4
PS4 (base model)
Turn off and unplug your PS4 and place it, facing you, on a flat surface, so that the PlayStation logo is on the right.
Move the panel on the left until you hear a click and move it less than a centimeter to the left.
Now, you can remove the panel, revealing the hard drive in its mounting bracket. Use the screwdriver to remove the screw holding the bracket in place, then remove the bracketed hard drive.
The mounting bracket is held in place by four screws, which you need to remove.
Once the screws are out, remove the old hard drive and replace it with the new one, then replace the screws.
Place the hard drive back in the console and replace the screw that held it in place; then put the panel back on the console.
Using an external drive for PS4
If you want something more convenient (and aren’t swayed by an internal SSD’s operating system improvements), an external drive requires significantly less work, and you can still get faster load times with an external SSD. There are two kinds of external drives: portable (which is small, lightweight, and simply plugs into your device of choice) and desktop (which requires an accessible power outlet). Virtually all portable hard drives work with all PS4 models, and if you want the added storage that comes with a desktop drive, many are compatible with PS4 as well. We’ve included a few recommendations here from popular brands like Seagate and Western Digital.
In order to use an external drive with your PS4, you will first need to format it after connecting it to the system.
To do so, go to Settings, then scroll down until you see the Devices tab.
Click this and then scroll until you see the USB Storage Device option and select your external hard drive.
From there, click Next and Format. The hard drive will begin the process of formatting to the PS4 and any games installed from that point on will be stored to the hard drive.
Call of Duty: Warzone‘s sniper meta has mostly been a battle between Modern Warfare’s Kar98k marksman rifle and Cold War’s Swiss K31 sniper, but there are other sniper loadouts worth giving a try. Here we highlight some of Warzone’s top snipers for Season 5 and recommend the best attachments for each.
These suggested sniper builds range from fast-paced, aggressive playstyles to the slow and steady long-range sniping, so you can surely find one on this list that suits your personal playstyle.
Here are some recommended sniper builds to try in your next match of Warzone.
Modern Warfare’s Kar98k marksman rifle is still a top-tier sniper choice in Season 5, as this bolt-action rifle continues to boast great mobility, speed, and rate of fire. Even though it’s a little slower and less forgiving than the Swiss K31, the Kar98k is still a sniper choice that packs quite a punch.
Recommended Kar98k Attachments:
Muzzle: Monolithic Suppressor
Barrel: Singuard Custom 27.6″
Laser: Tac laser
Optic: Sniper Scope
Stock: STVOL Precision Comb
Swiss K31
Swiss K31
Cold War’s Swiss K31 received improvements to its aiming stability and ADS speed in Season 3, and the sniper continues to gain popularity in Season 5. Stat-wise, it’s pretty close to the Kar98k, but the Swiss K31 does offer slightly better handling and movement speed. If you’re new to sniping or want to get more aggressive with your sniping, I highly recommend the Swiss K31 for the easiest-to-use option.
Recommended Swiss K31 Attachments:
Muzzle: GRU Suppressor
Barrel: 24.9″ Combat Recon
Laser: SWAT Laser Sight
Underbarrel: Bruiser Grip
Rear Grip: Serpent Grip
SP-R 208
SP-R 208
Modern Warfare’s SP-R 208 marksman rifle can be built for aggressive sniping in the same fashion as the Kar98k. It’s not necessarily a popular pick, but it might be worth a go if you’re looking to try something outside of the box for an aggressive sniper build that’s not the Kar98k or Swiss K-31. The SP-R 208 is viable once you unlock the attachments needed to bump up the gun’s bullet velocity and help with the movement speed.
Recommended SP-R 208 Attachments:
Muzzle: Monolithic Suppressor
Laser: Tac Laser
Optic: Solozero SP-R 28mm
Stock: XRK SP-LITE 208 Blitz
Ammunition: .300 Norma Mag 5-R Mags
ZRG 20mm
ZRG 20mm
The ZRG 20mm hasn’t been a very popular sniper prior to Season 5, but this gun has the highest bullet velocity of its class. This isn’t a sniper that you’ll be aggressively running with like the Kar98k or Swiss K-31, as this is a behemoth with slow aim-down-sight speed. The ZRG 20mm is more of a long-range sniper perfect for those who like to hang back and go for long-distance shots.
If you’re looking to level this up to unlock the best attachments, Season 5’s ground loot has the ZRG 20mm Beat Drop blueprint, which comes with some decent attachments. It’s worth picking this gun up when you find it on the map.
Recommended ZRG 20mm Attachments:
Muzzle: Sound Moderator
Barrel: 43.9″ Combat Recon
Laser: SWAT 5mw Laser Sight
Ammunition: 5 Rnd
Rear Grip: Serpent Grip
LW3- Tundra
LW3- Tundra
The Tundra sits somewhere in the middle with Warzone’s snipers in terms of mobility and handling. It can be used by more aggressive players, but it’s definitely a bit slower than the Kar98k or the Swiss K31. It can also be used for those long-range gunfights. The LW3-Tundra is not a bad sniper, but you’ll definitely want to equip the right attachments to give you better stability and aim-down-sight speed.
Recommended LW3-Tundra Attachments:
Muzzle: Wrapped Suppressor
Barrel: 29.1″ Combat Recon
Laser: SWAT 5mw Laser Sight
Underbarrel: Bruiser Grip
Rear Grip: Serpent Wrap
M82
M82
The M82 really hasn’t seen any time in the spotlight, but after receiving a buff to bullet velocity in Season 4, this semi-automatic sniper can be a viable long-range option for Warzone. It also has very little bullet drop, so you can have confidence in those long-distance shots. Much like the ZRG 20mm, it’s a slow and heavy beast that needs the right attachments to boost speed and mobility.
Recommended M82 Attachments:
Muzzle: Wrapped Suppressor
Barrel: 22.6″ Combat Recon
Laser: SWAT 5mw Laser Sight
Underbarrel: Bruiser Grip
Rear Grip: Airborne Elastic Wrap
Outside of sniping, here are the overall recommended loadouts for Season 5, and you might also want to make sure your perks are updated with our Season 5 perk guide. Warzone and Black Ops Cold War also just added the Marshal shotgun-pistol, and our unlock guide shows you all the ways you can get your hands on Call of Duty’s newest weapon.
September brings the start of fall and also the start of TV’s big fall push, where old favorites come back for another season and new shows are also given a chance to find audiences. Streaming services, such as Prime Video, aren’t always about following those traditions–but Amazon’s platform is bringing a handful of potentially interesting newcomers in September.
Among them is the investigative docuseries LuLaRich, which will drop on September 10. The four-part series, from Fyre Fraud documentarians Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby, examines the pyramid scheme LuLaRoe. The pyramid scheme has already been exposed and reached a settlement earlier this year, and the women’s clothing business is now working towards greater transparency. But this looks worth a watch, even if you haven’t heard of it, because the company’s co-founders happily sat to be interviewed by the filmmakers, and rather than the film playing up the “true crime” angle, the trailer (which you can watch below) seems to play it more as a comedy of errors that just spiraled out of control.
Other than that, Prime Video can always be counted on for surfacing classic content that’s worth a rewatch or finally giving a shot. September 1 brings classics and “classics” from a number of genres. Do you have cheesy ’80s throwbacks? Both the theatrical and extended cuts of 2010’s The A-Team are coming to the platform. Ready to start re-thinking your relationship with social media? Also coming to Prime is Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Network. The first of the month may be most worth looking at–it’s both when the highest number of things are being added to the catalog, and also where the greatest variety is on display.
Take a look at everything coming to Prime Video in September below.
Prime Video in September
September 1
(500) Days Of Summer (2009)
21 Grams (2003)
American Me (1992)
Apollo 13 (1995)
Arachnophobia (1990)
Armageddon (1998)
As Good As It Gets (1997)
Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (2011)
Can’t Hardly Wait (2017)
Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (2009)
Closer (2004)
Daddy Day Care (2003)
Daredevil (2003)
Daredevil (Director’s Cut) (2003)
Death At A Funeral (2010)
Do The Right Thing (1989)
Grown Ups (2010)
Heist (2001)
I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006)
I Am Bolt (2016)
I Am Duran (2019)
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)
Jennifer’s Body (2009)
Nacho Libre (2006)
Open Range (2003)
Planet Of The Apes (2001)
Predators (2010)
Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Rudy (1993)
Sicko (2007)
Sleepless In Seattle (1993)
Soul Food (1997)
Stuart Little (1999)
Stuart Little 2 (2002)
The Alamo (2004)
The A-Team (2010)
The A-Team (Extended Cut) (2010)
The Best Man (1999)
The Boy (2016)
The Descent (2006)
The Host (English Subtitled) (2006)
The Karate Kid (2010)
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
The Last Of The Mohicans (1992)
The Omen (2006)
The Social Network (2010)
The Unborn (2009)
The Unborn (Unrated) (2009)
Traffic (2000)
Year One (2009)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
A Feeling Home (2019) (Hallmark Movies Now)
Ancient Civilizations of North America: Season 1 (The Great Courses)
August Creek (2017) (Hallmark Movies Now)
Craig Ross Jr.’s Monogamy: Season 1 (ALLBLK)
Creepshow: Season 1 (Shudder)
Forensic Factor: Season 1 (A&E Crime Central)
Land Girls: Season 1 (PBS Masterpiece)
Latino Americans: Season 1 (PBS Documentaries)
Mail Call: Season 1 (HISTORY Vault)
Native Peoples of North America: Season 1 (The Great Courses)
Republic of Doyle: Season 1 (Acorn TV)
The Bastards of Pizzofalcone: Season 1 (MHz Choice)
The Blood Pact: Season 1 (PBS Masterpiece)
The Flintstones: Season 1 (Boomerang)
The Killing: Season 1 (Topic)
We’ll Meet Again: Season 1 (PBS Living)
September 3
Cinderella – Amazon Original Movie (2021)
September 10
The Voyeurs – Amazon Original Movie (2021)
LuLaRich – Amazon Original Series: Limited Series
September 12
Desperado (1995)
September 17
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – Amazon Original Movie (2021)
The Mad Women’s Ball – Amazon Original Movie (2021)
The DC movie Black Adam recently wrapped production ahead of its 2022 release. Here’s everything we know about it so far.
Dwayne Johnson is one of the biggest movie stars in the world, so it’s surprising that it’s taken him until now to star in a superhero film. Of course, he’s been busy with many other projects, but with the ongoing popularity of superhero movies, it was only a matter of time before he headlined one.
The character that Dwayne Johnson has chosen to play–the superpowered DC antihero Black Adam–might not be one of the best-known comic book characters, but it’s clear that the star has been passionate about the role for a long time. Way back in 2007, Johnson was approached to play Shazam in a movie, but instead revealed he was more interested in playing the film’s villain, Black Adam, instead. “He’s a character that I can’t wait to play,” he said at the time.
Shazam sat in development for many years, but in 2014, it was confirmed that Johnson would still play Black Adam. Of course, by then he was too big a star just to play a bad guy supporting role, so in 2017, Black Adam became a standalone DC movie. The film was officially announced in 2019, with a 2021 release date. Inevitably, production was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but in April this year, the cameras finally started rolling on Black Adam. So here’s what we know to date:
What’s the release date?
Black Adam is scheduled for release on July 29, 2022. The fifth Indiana Jones movie is also currently set to hit theaters that day, so it’s possible one of these films will end up moving.
Who’s in the cast?
The main cast of Black Adam has been announced. While all of these actors will be playing notable characters from the DC universe, this will be the first time any have been portrayed in a movie. The line-up so far is:
Dwayne Johnson as Teth-Adam / Black Adam
Pierce Brosnan as Kent Nelson / Doctor Fate
Noah Centineo (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) as Atom Smasher
Aldis Hodge (One Night in Miami) as Hawkman
Sarah Shahi (City on a Hill) as Adrianna Tomaz
Quintessa Swindell (In Treatment) as Cyclone
There are also unconfirmed roles for Marwan Kenzari, James Cusati-Moyer, Bodhi Sabongui, Mo Amer, and Uli Latukefu.
What’s the story?
While specifics of Black Adam’s story are still under wraps, we know a few details. The movie is essentially a spin-off from the Shazam movies–in DC’s comic books, Black Adam is Shazam’s nemesis, an antihero who takes a darker and more violent approach to the superhero life. His real name is Teth-Adam, the son of an Egyptian Pharaoh who was given the same powers as Shazam, but becomes corrupted. Reportedly, the movie won’t soften Black Adam’s violent nature, with director Jaume Collet-Serra telling Variety that we’ll be seeing a darker character than Johnson traditionally plays.
The movie will also feature members of the Justice Society of America, the classic DC superhero team, namely Atom Smasher, Hawkman, Cyclone, and Doctor Fate. We also know the criminal gang Intergang will feature. Sarah Shahi told The Hollywood Reporter, “I play a character named Adrianna, and she’s a freedom fighter that’s leading this big resistance against an evil, malicious group called Intergang.” In comics, Intergang is a dangerous group armed with technology supplied by the evil New Gods.
Who’s the director?
Black Adam is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. This is the second collaboration between Spanish-American director Collet-Serra and Dwayne Johnson, following this year’s Disney hit Jungle Cruise. Collet-Serra is also known for several action thrillers starring Liam Neeson, including Unknown, Non-Stop, and The Commuter, plus the shark thriller The Shallows and the horror movie Orphan.
Who are the writers?
Black Adam is written by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, and Sohrab Noshirvani. Haines and Noshirvani also wrote this year’s acclaimed thriller The Mauritanian, while Haines’ credits include Johnson’s 2018 movie Rampage and last year’s animated Scooby-Doo movie Scoob!
Is there any footage or images?
The movie only just finished production, so we’ve not seen any official images or footage yet. However, as usual, Johnson kept fans updated with progress on the film via Instagram and has released several behind-the-scenes clips and images over the past few months. These included this shot of a huge, destroyed set, Johnson getting painted with mo-cap tracking dots, and a video of the actor thanking the movie’s crew on his final day of shooting.
