How Black Adam Managed to Keep Its Cameo Secret, At Least Until It Got Leaked
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Black Adam is out this weekend, and as is often the case with superhero movies, its post-credits scene teases some interesting possibilities for the future of the DC movie universe. Chances are you already know what it is (either by just seeing the film or various other means), but just in case: don’t read this if you haven’t actually seen the film and want to be surprised. Now then...
So yes, Henry Cavill’s Superman is back in action, as previously reported. Rocking a version of his Man of Steel suit and with a little curl on his forehead, Superman shows up in Kahndaq telling Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) that they need to have a talk now that the latter has smugly declared that no one on the planet is capable of going on-one-on against him. Johnson was previously said to have fought hard for that scene to happen—so hard that when then-head of DC Films Walter Hamada said “no,” the wrestler/actor went over him to get it approved—and a recent story from the Hollywood Reporter really underlines how close to the wire it was.
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Adam’s cinematographer Lawrence Sher told THR that director Jaume Collet-Serra essentially pitched the scene to him as “something for Dwayne to walk into … And we’re going to shoot it in like 10 minutes.” Johnson’s half of the scene was shot on the final day of reshoots, with the team doing the Superman half via a body double and a version of John Williams’ classic Superman theme they found on Google. Similar to the post-credits scene for Shazam, only Superman’s emblem was shown on the chance that things wouldn’t work out. Watching it play out was “actually goosebumps,” said Sher. “I thought, ‘Wow, this is 100 percent going to work. Now they need to figure out if they can get the guy with the head to be there.’”
Test screenings for Black Adam went nuts when they saw said scene, which made securing Cavill even more of an imperative. Once Johnson got that approved, Cavill had to film his half in London just a month ago, where he was presumably filming the third season of The Witcher. For that, Sher had to film remotely, since he couldn’t travel to the UK. Of seeing Cavill perform the scene, he said: “There are certain people that are iconic as the characters that they play, and he’s really one of them.”
Black Adam is in theaters now.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
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