Dwayne Johnson Is Set To Be Given His Own DC Comic Series
Dwayne Johnson is the closest thing we have to a real-life comic book character, so it makes sense he is getting his own series.
Dwayne Johnson is basically a real-life comic book character. C’mon, when was the last time you saw someone as enormously large and inhumanly charismatic as the once and future Rock outside the pages of a superhero book? Fittingly, Dwayne Johnson is getting his own DC Comic series, and as you might expect, it is tied into his upcoming Black Adam movie. In conjunction with the much anticipated, much-delayed Warner Bros picture, DC Comics is releasing Black Adam – the Justice Society Files, a four-part series intended as something of a primer to get you ready for the movie.
So far, most of the focus of the upcoming Black Adam has been on Dwayne Johnson and his titular character (Teth-Adam, if you’re nasty). That makes sense as he is the central figure of the movie and Johnson is one of the world’s most famous and popular celebrities. However, the movie is also introducing a number of new characters to the DCEU as well as the concept of the Justice Society of America. Each of the four issues of Dwayne Johnson’s comic book series will focus on one of those characters to presumably help get audiences used to the characters. Accordingly, each of the issues will have cover art with characters designed after the stars of the movie.
Speaking of which, the first issue of Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam – the Justice Society Files will focus on Hawkman, who appeared in the recent trailer for Black Adam facing off against the fallen champion of Shazam. As a character, Hawkman has one of the more tangled and retconned histories this side of a Spider-Man clone, so it makes sense to get it clear which one the movie deals with. As played by Aldis Hodge, this version of Hawkman is Carter Hall, the reincarnation of an ancient prince who leads the Justice Society of America. We will leave the explanation of Hawkman sometimes being an alien policeman from a planet exclusively themed on birds for another time. That issue is being released on July 5.
The second issue (on sale on August 2) of Dwayne Johnson’s ramp-up comic book series focuses on Cyclone, the hero played by Quintessa Swindell. She is the granddaughter of the Golden Age hero Red Tornado, a character originally portrayed as a working-class woman whose disguise was a pot on her head. Needless to say, the new Cyclone has much more impressive powers and likely will have an origin that is less overtly parodic.
September 6 will bring the third issue of the Dwayne Johnson-branded comic series and explain the backstory of Atom-Smasher, who will be portrayed by Noah Centineo. In regular comics continuity, he is the godson of the Golden Age hero the Atom, whose power was being short but strong. In contrast, the film Atom-Smasher is seen exhibiting the power to grow to the size of a building, so it will be interesting to see how they connect the dots on that one.
Finally, the fourth issue will be released on October 4 and focus on Pierce Brosnan’s Doctor Fate aka Kent Nelson. Aside from having the power to grow a truly magnificent beard, Doctor Fate is typically portrayed as the most powerful magician of the DC Universe (a sorcerer supreme, you might say) and an avatar of the forces of Order. That issue will presumably lead straight into the release of the Black Adam on October 22, when we will finally get to see Dwayne Johnson take his place as the new central figure of the DCEU.
