Part Of Black Adam's Secret Cameo Scene Was Filmed Before The Team Even Knew If It Would Come Together
Contains spoilers for "Black Adam"
"Black Adam," the latest movie set in the DC Cinematic Universe, is now in theaters. So far, it has racked up $26.8 million in box office receipts on its first day and is on its way to a projected $62.2 million weekend (per Variety). Although some critics have been unkind to the film starring Dwayne Johnson as a super-villain, fans seem to be enjoying this new addition to the franchise; on Rotten Tomatoes, the Audience Score is almost 48 percent higher than the Tomatometer Score that's determined by professional reviews.
Like it or not, though, "Black Adam" encapsulates the somewhat in-flux future of the DCEU. And among its other revelations, one surprising post-credits scene has everyone talking. Yep, that's the one, in which Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) tells Black Adam (Johnson) she'll give him his freedom as long as he stays inside Khandaq. He brushes her off, saying that no one on the planet can stop him, but Waller begs to differ. She says she can send in people who "aren't from this planet." At this point, a figure slowly emerges, and it's Superman (Henry Cavill), who tells Black Adam, "We should talk."
Now that the scene is out, fans have been learning how it came together, and it was no sure thing.
Dwayne Johnson filmed his part before producers knew if Henry Cavill would do it
Cavill's return, coming for the first time since "Justice League" in 2017, was by no means certain. The negotiations were, as The Hollywood Reporter described it, "hard-fought and came down to the wire." This led to the team on "Black Adam" shooting part of the scene with Johnson before Cavill committed to the role. However, Johnson apparently has a vision for a DCEU that includes Cavill's Man of Steel and Black Adam duking it out in a movie together (via THR). He also shares a manager with Cavill, so the two teamed up to overrule then-DC Films head, Walter Hamada.
Director of Photography Lawrence Sher found out about the Superman inclusion idea late into the filming process. He remembers director Jaume Collet-Serra saying, "Let's just quickly take this throne room set that we were working in ... We're going to create something for Dwayne to walk into ... And we're going to shoot it in like 10 minutes." They did Johnson's half of the scene on the last day of additional photography, then filled in the rest with a body double and a version of the 1978 "Superman" theme (originally composed by John Williams).
Then producers tested the movie with that scene in it; Lawrence noted that it "played gangbusters." With such a good reaction, the urgency to make sure Cavill could participate intensified."Watching an actor come out of a full silhouette into that, was actually goosebumps ... Now they need to figure out if they can get the guy with the head to be there," Sher said during a THR podcast.
Fortunately, those negotiations worked out, and the scene has been making as big an impact as intended. It looks like Superman's "Man of Steel 2" will be Warner Bros.' next DCEU project.