Dwayne Johnson-Led Black Adam Adds Sarah Shahi to Cast

After landing Aldis Hodge (The Invisible Man) to star as Hawkman late last month, New Line Cinema’s Black Adam led by Dwayne Johnson (Jungle Cruise) has expanded its cast with the addition of Person of Interest alum Sarah Shahi, according to Deadline.

The 40-year-old actress, who most recently appeared in a recurring role on Showtime’s City on a Hill and ABC’s The Rookie, is set to star as a university professor and freedom fighter who is leading a resistance in Kahndaq.

During its appearance at last month’s DC Fandome event, it was revealed that the film would feature the appearances of Hawkman, Doctor Fate and Cyclone to set up the Justice Society of America, while also bringing word that Hawkgirl would have to remain absent for the time being. Over the years, many superheroines have assumed the secret identity of Hawkgirl. The only recurring element is her partner/romantic interest Hawkman since it’s nearly impossible to see one without the other. Recently, fans saw the Shiera Sanders Hall version of Hawkgirl as part of the Justice Society of America in the Stargirl television series. Sadly, she lost her life to Brainwave on the night the Injustice Society attacked the JSA headquarters.

Recommended Reading: Justice Society of America: Black Adam and Isis

Dwayne Johnson has been working on Black Adam for 10 years. The character was originally supposed to appear in this year’s Shazam! but decided to save his highly-anticipated debut for a later film in order to let each character get some breathing room. However, despite not appearing in Shazam!, his character was teased with the wizard Shazam, played by Djimon Hounsou (Guardians of the Galaxy), telling his origin story to Billy Batson.

Based on the DC Comics character created by Otto Binder and C.C. Beck, Black Adam will be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (The Shallows) with Johnson starring as the titular anti-hero and Adam Sztykiel having written the current script. Noah Centineo will play Atom Smasher in the movie. The film will be the second collaboration between Collet-Serra and Johnson, who have also been working together on Disney’s forthcoming adventure film Jungle Cruise.

The film will be produced by Johnson and FlynnPicturesCo’s Beau Flyn along with Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia of Seven Bucks Productions. Scott Sheldon will be overseeing the project for FlynnPictureCo.

Black Adam was slated to hit theaters on December 22, 2021, but was recently pushed back to an unspecified release date due to production delays from the global pandemic

(Photo Credit: Tiffany Rose/Getty Images for Make-A-Wish Greater Los Angeles)