Aldis Hodge (The Invisible Man, Underground) is reportedly set to take on the role of Hawkman in DC/New Line’s upcoming Black Adam. Hodge has turned in charismatic performances in films like Hidden Figures and and stars as NFL icon Jim Brown in Regina King’s upcoming directorial debut One Night in Miami. Hodge made the announcement on his Instagram:

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So the cat’s out of the bag 😎. @therock, it’s going to be an honor to join you, @ncentineo and the #BlackAdam/#DCU family 🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿. Let’s goooooo!!!! @thehollywood_reporter link is in the bio🔥

A post shared by Aldis Hodge (@aldis_hodge) on Sep 25, 2020 at 1:49pm PDT

Hodge joins Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who will be playing Black Adam, and Noah Centineo (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) who is playing Atom Smasher. Black Adam will be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Jungle Cruise, The Shallows), with production set to begin sometime next year.

Hawkman, aka Carter Hall, was created by Gardner Fox and Dennis Neville in 1940. The character first appeared in Flash Comics #1(January 1940). The character has previously appeared on the small screen in series Smallville and Legends of Tomorrow, but Black Adam will be his feature debut.

A founding member of the Justice Society of America, Carter Hall is an American archaeologist who discovers he is the reincarnated ancient Egyptian Prince Khufu. Hall uses gravity-defying Nth metal to craft a belt and wings, and wields a mace. Like most Golden and Silver age characters, Hawkman has undergone various permutations and retcons. One version, Katar Hol, is an imperial prince of the planet Thanagar. Another version of the story changes the character into a sort of alien police officer defending Earth. Add his many reincarnations, and Hawkman has one of the more complex backstories in the DCU.

It’s unclear which origin story the film will go with, but my money is on reincarnated archaeologist. Mainly because I want to see Hodge play a version of Indiana Jones with superpowers. That version also ties in nicely with Black Adam himself, given the villain’s ancient Egyptian origins.

While we don’t know much about Black Adam, my money is on character being more of an anti-hero than an outright villain. It’s also unclear if and how the character, long known as Shazam’s nemesis, will crossover with the Shazam! films. Fellow JSA members Doctor Fate and Cyclone will appear in the film, but they have yet to be cast. There’s no word yet on whether or not Hawkman’s soul mate and reincarnated lover Hawkgirl/Shiera Sanders will appear in the film.

Hodge’s casting is exciting news, as he is a talented and charismatic actor ready for his leading role. Dwayne Johnson congratulated Hodge on Instagram, and included a transcript of their first phone call, which is very funny:

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THIS IS HAWKMAN 🦅 A pleasure to welcome @aldis_hodge to BLACK ADAM. HAWKMAN is a critical leading role for our movie, as he is the fiery leader of the JSA (Justice Society of America) and one of the most beloved and legendary characters in the DC UNIVERSE. I called Aldis personally as I wanted to surprise him that he got the role and it wound up being one of the greatest conversations I’ve ever had. Aldis: Hello? DJ: Hello, I’d like to speak to Aldis. Aldis: Who is this? DJ: This is Dwayne Johnson. * long pause Aldis: Whoever this is stop playing on my phone. DJ: This is Dwayne, is this Aldis? * longer pause Aldis: This shit ain’t funny, I said stop playing on my fucking phone. DJ: Aldis, this is DJ. I just called to say thank you so much for sending in your audition – it was great and I really appreciate the efforts you made. Just wanted to say thanks and best of luck in all you do. And one more thing — welcome to Black Adam. * longest pause Aldis: I’m sorry you’ll have to hold on for a one second. * he puts the phone down and walks away and all I hear is inaudible yells 😂 Aldis: DJAYYYY OHHHHH SHIT!!!!!! * Im laughing my ass off by now. DJ: You ok? You’re gonna crush this role! We went on to have an awesome conversation full of gratitude, love and motivation. Can’t wait to work with this very talented brother. The perfect HAWKMAN. Let’s get to work. #aldishodge #jsa #hawkman 🦅 #blackadam⚡️

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Sep 25, 2020 at 3:09pm PDT

(via The Hollywood Reporter, featured image: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

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