It’s been rumored for quite a while now, but Dwayne Johnson has confirmed that the Justice Society of America will be a part of his ‘Black Adam’ movie. Johnson is now promoting his upcoming sequel ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’, but of course, the conversation turned to this long-simmering DC movie project.
When asked about the JSA appearing, by Screen Rant, he very flatly replied:
“JSA. We will introduce you to that, the world to JSA.”
Black Adam’s biggest developments in modern comics have been in the ‘Justice Society of America’ comic book, in which he struggled to walk the line between hero and terrorist. This was a modern version of the JSA, made up largely of legacy characters, the children, grandkids, etc. of the original members. But the original JSA formed in the 1940s and was made up of a rotating roster of various DC heroes. It was the first superhero team ever assembled.
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The modern version of the team will be explored on television, on DC Universe’s upcoming ‘Stargirl’, which it was just announced will also be available on The CW. The Justice Society has also been depicted on ‘Smallville’ and ‘Legends of Tomorrow’.
There have been a number of characters that have served as members over the years so there is a wide selection that could appear in ‘Black Adam’. Hawkman has been rumored to be in this movie for quite some time, and not surprisingly, Doctor Fate is reported (by Heroic Hollywood) to be a lock. Even though he draws his power from Egyptian deities, the character has typically been a Caucasian American. That was changed in the New 52 when an Egyptian man, Dr. Khalid Ben-Hassin was given the mantle.
Also rumored to appear are two younger legacy characters, Stargirl and Atom-Smasher, but we’ll have to wait and see whether or not they show up.
Another character expected to appear is Isis, Black Adam’s chief love interest. Adrianna Tomaz was a slave that was freed by Black Adam, who then gifted her with a portion of his own super abilities. He also shared some of his powers with her brother, Amon, who adopted the name Osiris. Isis served as a calming influence, bringing Adam almost entirely to the side of good. But both Isis and Osiris died, driving him fully to the side of evil.
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Isis was first created by Filmation, and Joanna Cameron starred as the character in her own live-action Saturday morning show, ‘The Secrets of Isis’, beginning in 1975, which aired in tandem with the ‘Shazam!’ live-action show. That version was an American high school teacher, Andrea Thomas. “Adrianna Tomaz” was a stylized homage to that name. DC published a short-lived comic book starring this character, but she was never considered a full-fledged DC character.
Instead, DC introduced their own version of Isis, Adrianna Tomaz, in 2006. Erica Durance portrayed an alternate version of Isis on ‘Smallville’ when her Lois Lane was possessed by the goddess. Erica Cerra portrayed Egyptologist Adrianna Tomaz. On ‘Legends of Tomorrow’, Tala Ashe plays a character inspired by Isis, Zari Tomaz. The name Isis was dropped because of the terrorist army of the same name.
Jaume Collet-Serra, who directed Johnson in the Disney flick ‘Jungle Cruise’ is set to direct ‘Black Adam’, with a screenplay by Adam Sztykiel, who penned the screenplay for another Johnson flick, ‘Rampage’. Production is expected to begin in 2020.
