Black Adam: Aldis Hodge Talks Superman and Amanda Waller Cameos

Within hours of the premiere of Black Adam, everyone knew about the spoiler that Superman had returned and was played by Henry Cavill. It was one of those spoilers that everyone knew, and while we all might have tried to keep it under wraps, it got to the point that it felt like Black Adam was marketing itself on that final scene. The legacy of Black Adam very much feels wrapped up in that scene, and nothing that really happened in the time before those first credits rolled. The Hollywood Reporter recently spoke to Aldis Hodge, who got to play Hawkman in Black Adam and was the moral foil to the character throughout the entire runtime. The kind of cameo that Cavill was in could have been shot mere days before the premiere, so it was unclear just how long everyone had been keeping that secret. Hodge revealed that he only found “pretty close to the premiere. They kept that all the way under wraps, and I didn’t know until maybe a day or two before the premiere.” He was then asked if there was any talk during filming about bringing Superman back.

“Not at all. There was no talk of bringing back Superman and any of that,” he explained. “They’ve got to keep those things in a super vault, so all you can do is focus on trying to make Black Adam the best it can be. So you do hear things, and you get ideas, but nothing is ever confirmed or really fully said. And honestly, I dig that because it was a huge surprise for me, and I love it that we got to experience it together with the audience. The fans have been trying to get Henry Cavill back in the red and blue for a minute, and D.J. was the perfect person to bring him back. It just doesn’t get any better.”

Superman wasn’t the only familiar face to show up in Black Adam. Fans of The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker recognized Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, making a brief appearance. However, we also got the return of Viola Davis as Amanda Waller in yet another DC role. Waller has been popping in and out of the DC universe since the 2016 Suicide Squad movie, and sometimes it seems like Warner Bros. wants her to be a more morally grey version of Nick Fury. Hodge is the only one who gets to interact with Davis as Waller and was asked if he always knew that Waller was on the other side of the call. Turns out, initially, it wasn’t going to be Waller due to scheduling conflicts.

“There was talk about it. Originally, there was an idea for her to jump in, but then I think there was a scheduling conflict. So when we first shot the movie, she wasn’t in it at all; we all had completely different scenes. But when we did reshoots, I saw her name on the script, and I said, “Oh shit!” (Laughs.) So I kept that secret for the better part of this year, and it was pretty awesome.”

A cameo like Waller in Black Adam is also something that could be tweaked later on. If you watch the scene, as THR points out, the only time we hear Hawkman say Waller’s name his back is to the camera. That means that no matter who is on the other side of the call, they could make it work and ADR a name later on. In this case, they managed to work something out with Davis and her schedule. We’ll have to see where Davis and her version of Amanda Waller turns up next.

Black Adam: Summary, Cast, Release Date

The world needed a hero… It got Black Adam. From New Line Cinema, Dwayne Johnson stars in the action-adventure Black Adam. The first-ever feature film to explore the story of the DC Super Hero comes to the big screen under the direction of Jaume Collet-Serra (Jungle Cruise). Nearly 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the ancient gods—and imprisoned just as quickly—Black Adam (Johnson) is freed from his earthly tomb, ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world. Johnson stars alongside Aldis Hodge (City on a Hill, One Night in Miami) as Hawkman, Noah Centineo (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) as Atom Smasher, Sarah Shahi (Sex/Life, Rush Hour 3) as Adrianna, Marwan Kenzari (Murder on the Orient Express, The Mummy) as Ishmael, Quintessa Swindell (Voyagers, Trinkets) as Cyclone, Bodhi Sabongui (A Million Little Things) as Amon, and Pierce Brosnan (the Mamma Mia! and James Bond franchises) as Dr. Fate.

Collet-Serra directed from a screenplay by Adam Sztykiel and Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani, a screen story by Adam Sztykiel and Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani, based on characters from DC. Black Adam was created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck. The film’s producers were Beau Flynn, Dwayne Johnson, Hiram Garcia, and Dany Garcia, with Richard Brener, Walter Hamada, Dave Neustadter, Chris Pan, Eric McLeod, Geoff Johns, and Scott Sheldon. Black Adam smashed into theaters and IMAX internationally beginning 19 October 2022 and in North America on October 21, 2022. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.