Movies

Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Black Adam’ sets Christmas 2021 premiere

Dwayne Johnson is ready to fly high.

The action star revealed that the superhero film “Black Adam” — in which he’ll play the “rebellious, one of a kind” antihero — will be released Dec. 22, 2021.

The film will be a spinoff of the movie “Shazam!” that premiered last April, with Zachary Levi in the title role, a k a Billy Batson.

Johnson posted the news on Instagram, including a rendering of the character, who — like Levi’s Shazam — wears a caped, tight-fitting costume emblazoned with a thunderbolt.

“Like most kids growing up, I dreamed about being a superhero,” Johnson, 47, wrote in the image’s caption. “Having cool superpowers, fighting for what’s right and always protecting the people.”

Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne JohnsonGetty Images

The “Fast & Furious” and “Ballers” star — who has been floated for the role for a number of years — goes on to say that, at age 10, he was introduced to the “greatest superhero of all time,” Superman — “the hero I always wanted to be.”

But Johnson said he was “too rebellious” and “too rambunctious” for the role. “Despite my troubles, I was still a good kid with a good heart – I just liked to do things my way,” he said, suggesting that Black Adam was a more appropriate fit for him. “Now, years later as a man, with the same DNA I had as a kid, my superhero dreams have come true.”

The DC Comics character — who debuted in the mid-1940s — is known as Shazam’s nemesis and someone who “allowed his power to corrupt his ideals and desires,” according to a description on the comic purveyor’s official site.

Johnson called the project a “bad ass collaboration” with artist Kode Abdo, a k a Bosslogic (@bosslogic), and DC Comics Chief Creative Officer Jim Lee (@jimlee).

Production is set to start next June, according to The Wrap.

“This role is unlike any other I’ve ever played in my career and I’m grateful to the bone we’ll all go on this journey together,” Johnson said.