After a long, long wait, it seems the upcoming live-action Black Adam movie is on the track to completion. Dwayne Johnson, who plays the lead role in the movie, and is also the producer, has been responsible for keeping the project alive since it was first announced back in 2016. The actor took to Instagram to celebrate the first day of the shoot for Black Adam, calling it an honor to be a part of the project.

"History in the making, extremely excited and what a humbling moment to share with you. Officially kicking off DAY 1 of filming our BLACK ADAM⚡️Our Director and maestro, Jaume Collet-Serra. Our Academy Award nominee (Joker), Director of Photography, Lawrence Sher. We have an all star production crew - incredibly talented, galvanized, committed and focused to raise the bar and deliver something SPECIAL for the world.

This one is an honor."

In the comics, Black Adam started out as a villain against the character of Captain Marvel, today called Shazam. Adam was the first champion of the wizard Shazam centuries ago. Over time, Adam grew corrupted from the power, turning into Black Adam. This forced the wizard to seal the villain away for centuries, in the meantime finding a new champion in the shape of teenager Billy Batson, the central character of 2019's superhero action comedy Shazam!.

The original plan had been to introduce Black Adam in Shazam!, which was later changed to give the character his own solo movie. Black Adam's presence was hinted at during the final scene of Shazam!, when Billy's family of superheroes notice an extra chair in the wizard's lair and wonder who it is for.

While Black Adam might not meet Billy in his upcoming solo movie, the film will have plenty of comic star power to draw from. The Justice Society of America will make their big-screen debut in Black Adam, consisting of Doctor Fate, Hawkman, Atom Smasher, and Cyclone. When it was recently announced that Pierce Brosnan will be playing Fate in the movie, Dwayne Johnson tweeted to announce that their superhero team is now complete.

"Such a pleasure to announce the final member of our #JusticeSociety, the bad ass statesman, Mr @PierceBrosnan as the iconic and all knowing, DR. FATE. I'm grateful to have such a talented, diverse and hungry cast."

The teaser trailer for Black Adam that was released months ago indicated that the Justice Society will be facing off against Black Adam, which means that Johnson's character will at least start out as a villain. But the actor has hinted that over time, Black Adam might become more of an anti-hero, following a similar trajectory as seen in the comics, to become a more ruthless version of Superman or Shazam.

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, Black Adam stars Dwayne Johnson, Noah Centineo, Aldis Hodge, Quintessa Swindell, Pierce Brosnan, Marwan Kenzari, Sarah Shahi, James Cusati-Moyer and Bodhi Sabongui. The film arrives in theaters on July 29, 2022.