Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam Shares Something In Common With Vin Diesel's Fast & Furious Character [Exclusive]
Dwayne Johnson may be done with Vin Diesel and the mainline "Fast and the Furious" films, but that doesn't mean he's done portraying characters who fight for their family. Johnson's latest film, the long in development "Black Adam" (which our own reviewer called "A Superhero Movie, But Worse") is finally about to hit theaters so audiences can finally experience a change in the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe. Black Adam started as a villain in DC Comics, but over time the character has evolved and changed into something more morally ambiguous. At this point in the ever-changing canon of the comics, Black Adam isn't a full-on villain, but he isn't saving cats out of trees, either.
As for this live-action adaptation of the character, Dwayne Johnson is playing up the antihero angle. However, as mean as Black Adam may seem, he's still fighting for something that any man who lives his life a quarter of a mile at a time could relate to — family. Being able to justify the antihero's darker and more violent inclinations with empathetic reasons was essential to the producers, and gives Black Adam something in common with "Fast & Furious" character Dominic Toretto.
It's all about family
In an interview with /Film, producer Hiram Garcia spoke about the inherent dedication and love for family that drives Black Adam throughout the movie:
"We wanted to root Black Adam in something grounded and heavy that the audience could start to connect with him on. And one of the common threads that he found in Black Adam in the later versions of the comics was the ties to his family."
Garcia went into detail about the driving force for Black Adam, which only confirms our suspicions that the antihero shares a critical character trait with Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto from the "Fast" franchise. Both of the characters use their family as motivating factors for their otherworldly physical feats in their respective films:
"A lot of the things that he does, a lot of the rage that he demonstrates, is always attached to things happening to his family or his people. So we knew that was essential for us, and we felt that anchoring a character like Black Adam in that space then gave us a license, and I think would allow the audience to really get behind how he conducts himself in terms of his aggression... even though he is extremely vicious and quick to action, it is always rooted in something that is attached to his emotion and his heart and about how much he cares. And that's always attached to his family."
Try as Dwayne Johnson might to separate himself from his "Fast" family, "Black Adam" looks to continue a trend started by Vin Diesel's character. While he may not appear as Hobbs again in the upcoming "Fast X," fans can take comfort that no matter what franchise Johnson is in, he's continuing to fight for family. Now, all we need is Black Adam to show up with a six-pack of coronas at the next "Fast & Furious" cookout.