Upcoming Hawkman actor Aldis Hodge, who will star opposite Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the Black Adam film, recently explained the importance of him playing Hawkman.
Hodge talked with YouTube channel Geeks of Color about his upcoming role.
Related: Hawkman: His Comic Book Origins Explained
First, Hodge was asked if he had begun researching the role.
The actor answered, “The research is done. The research been done. At this point the research is just eating as much as I can to put on the weight.”
“That call was insane. I grew up on graphic novels. So to be able to jump into the shoes of…it’s not just an average regular superhero. This is Hawkman. He’s a savage. For me, it’s honestly just fantastic,” he added.
Related: Black Adam: Non-Binary Performer Quintessa Swindell To Play Cyclone aka Maxine Hunkel
Hodge then discussed the representation aspect of playing the character, “When I think about the representation aspect of that, because I didn’t grow up watching superheroes that looked like me. I remember in my late teens, I mean my early teens, we came into Spawn and Blade, you know what I’m saying. And that was awesome.”
He continued, “So, to know that younger kids are going to be able to see that and see opportunity and have an awareness that I didn’t have at a young age about what they can accomplish, that really is fantastic. And again, that is the greater goal of this.”
“It’s a grand responsibility. Still a responsibility, and I’m gonna take care of it. But I’m very grateful. Very excited,” he concluded.
Not much is known about the Black Adam film other than the cast.
Hodge, who will play Hawkman, is joined by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Black Adam, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, and Sarah Shahi in an unnamed role.
The Rock did provide some details about the movie back in July 2019.
He stated, “Black Adam, how he starts, he starts off as a villain. Then, he becomes an anti-hero. And then he might become a hero or we might not.”
Black Adam producer Hiram Garcia would add, “And I think the idea is, look, we know the root of obviously Black Adam. He was created as a villain. And through the love of the fans and through some great writers and storytellers, he evolved into an antihero. The antihero is a character that we always loved and that we responded to.”
“But we understand that there’s been many aspects to Black Adam through him. But ultimately this is a guy who he does have a moral compass as skewed as it may be. And ultimately he is a guy that everything has always been driven by his family and what happens to them. And he is never opposed to unleashing hell when you cross him. So I think when you add in those elements of that DNA, those are things we’re very aware of,” Garcia added.
A few months later in November 2019, The Rock confirmed the film would be an origin story and implied that Black Adam’s rival Shazam would not be in it.
He explained, “It’s an origin story and that’s where we start it and we root it, and then we build out from there. Now, not to say Shazam isn’t on my radar. Of course Shazam is, but so is all of DC.”
The actor went on to confirm the JSA would be showing up the film. He stated, “JSA. We will introduce you to that, the world to JSA.”
What do you make of Hodge’s comments? Are you interested in what DC is cooking up with Black Adam?