First “Black Adam” Trailer Reveals Dwayne Johnson’s Epic Arrival In DCEU

That tremor you feel is the shakeup coming to the DCEU. Warner Bros. has just dropped the first trailer for Black Adam, the long-awaited entrance of Dwayne Johnson to the DCEU as the titular antihero, and it’s going to Rock your world.

“I was a slave until I died,” Johnson’s Black Adam says at the top of the trailer. “Then, I was reborn a God.” The trailer unpacks, at least a little bit, of how Black Adam came to be such a potent force, and his origin story is one draped in sacrifice and heartbreak. After he was killed, Black Adam’s son sacrificed himself to bring his father back. This is the burden Black Adam carries, knowing that his life required his son’s death. It’s why he means it when he says, “Now, I kneel before no one.”

Black Adam comes from director Jaume Collet-Serra, a man who knows his way around an action sequence. Black Adam is no Avenger, or even Batman—he plays for keeps, which means he doesn’t fit the mold of a superhero, but rather an antihero. A previous clip showed just has nasty Black Adam can be when he feels threatened, but the trailer focuses on what makes him, or could make him, a savior. The trailer also reveals our longest look yet at the Justice Society—Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), and Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo).

“You have two choices,” Doctor Fate tells Black Adam towards the end of the trailer. “You can be the destroyer of this world, or you can be its savior.” Black Adam will tell the story of that choice, and in the process will introduce what’s likely to be a whole host of new characters, Johnson’s Black Adam most of all, who will reshape the DCEU for good.

Check out the trailer below. Black Adam arrives in theaters on October 21.

Here’s the brief synopsis for Black Adam:

Nearly 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the Egyptian gods—and imprisoned just as quickly—Black Adam (Johnson) is freed from his earthly tomb, ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world.

For more on Black Adam, check out these stories:

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“Black Adam” Producer Says Early Cut of Film Has Him “Very Confident”

Featured image: Caption: DWAYNE JOHNSON as Black Adam in New Line Cinema’s action adventure “BLACK ADAM,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

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The Credits is an online magazine that tells the story behind the story to celebrate our large and diverse creative community. Focusing on profiles of below-the-line filmmakers, The Credits celebrates the often uncelebrated individuals who are indispensable to the films and TV shows we love.