Black Adam 2 potential release date, cast and everything you need to know

Black Adam 2 was seemingly in the works following the release of the first movie, but things are looking bleak right now for Dwayne Johnson's anti-hero.

Following James Gunn and Peter Safran taking over as co-heads of DC Studios, Johnson confirmed that, for now, Black Adam wouldn't be returning to the DC Universe despite that Superman credit scene teaser.

We now know some of the first offerings of the new DCU and Black Adam 2 is nowhere to be seen. But does this mean that we'll never get a sequel or that we'll have to wait for a bit longer than expected?

Let's delve into that as we give you everything you need to know about a potential Black Adam 2.

Black Adam 2 potential release date: Has Black Adam 2 been cancelled?

Even before the new era of the DCU had begun, Black Adam 2 hadn't been officially confirmed by Warner Bros and DC, despite how much a sequel was being talked about by Johnson and producer Hiram Garcia.

So it shouldn't be a surprise that the sequel doesn't have a release date and while Johnson's statement about Black Adam's future was bleak, it did leave some wiggle room for a potential return in the future.

"My passionate friends, I wanted to give you a long-awaited Black Adam update regarding the character's future in the new DC Universe," he wrote.

"James Gunn and I connected, and Black Adam will not be in their first chapter of storytelling. However, DC and Seven Bucks have agreed to continue exploring the most valuable ways Black Adam can be utilised in future DC multiverse chapters."

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It's hard to imagine how the story set up in the first movie can organically be continued in the new DCU, especially since Henry Cavill has now officially hung up his Superman cape and we're getting a new Superman movie instead.

Dwayne Johnson talked to Variety in March about Cavill's Superman being dropped following his Black Adam cameo, and what it means for the potential franchise.

"All that I can do, and all that we could do when we were making Black Adam was to put our best foot forward and surround ourselves with the best people and deliver the best movie we could," he said.

"Our audience score was in the 90s. Critics took a couple shots, but that's just the business of it."

"It's almost like when you have a pro football team and your quarterback wins championships and your head coach wins championships and then a new owner comes in and says, 'Not my coach, not my quarterback. I'm going to go with somebody new,'" he added, alluding to new DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran coming on board just days after Black Adam opened in 2022.

It is still possible there will be a soft reset for the character and Black Adam will be rebooted in a future DC movie or TV show. If that does happen though, we reckon we'll have to wait a few years (at least) for it to happen.

Sorry, Dwayne.

Black Adam ending explained: How does Black Adam set up a sequel?

This might now all be irrelevant, but in case any future appearance does continue the story set up by the first movie, here goes.

After Black Adam and the Justice Society defeat Ishmael (or so they think), Black Adam agrees to say "Shazam" and promises to never say it again.

In this version of the story, he got the powers from his son, the true champion, and as soon as his son transferred the powers, he was killed. Out of vengeance, Black Adam killed all those responsible and was imprisoned.

Wracked with guilt, Black Adam gives himself up to the Justice Society and is willingly imprisoned in a secret Task Force X base, under the command of Emilia Harcourt. The day is saved, there's nothing else to do... right?

Unfortunately, Ishmael wanted to be killed so that he could finally transform into Sabbac, the evil opposite of Black Adam. The Justice Society are unable to stop Sabbac from taking over the throne in Kahndaq, with Doctor Fate dying at Sabbac's hands.

Before he died though, Doctor Fate reached out to the imprisoned Black Adam and persuaded him to break free and prove himself to be a hero. He does that and heads to Kahndaq where, with the help of the Justice Society, he kills Sabbac.

The Justice Society let Black Adam stay in Kahndaq and he chooses to destroy the throne, becoming Kahndaq's "protector" and not its ruler.

In the credit scene, Black Adam is warned by Amanda Waller to never leave Kahndaq or else. He boasts that nobody can stop him, leading to Superman arriving for a chat with Black Adam.

Now that Cavill is out as Superman, it makes this credit scene pretty redundant, so if a sequel was to happen, it would have to find a way to sidestep this particular development.

Of course, it's not just Superman that Black Adam could be crossing paths with in the DC Universe. We assumed he'd come across Shazam at some point, and maybe even the other members of the Justice League.

Will any of these happen in the sequel, or ever? It's anybody's guess right now.

Black Adam 2 cast: Who will be back in Black Adam 2?

Since Black Adam 2 hasn't been confirmed and might not even happen, then there are no official cast announcements, but if Black Adam were to return, then you'd expect Dwayne Johnson to suit up again.

Other than Johnson, though, it's not guaranteed who else will return in the sequel, which might not even feature the Justice Society: Aldis Hodge's Hawkman, Noah Centineo's Atom Smasher and Quintessa Swindell's Cyclone.

If the Justice Society do return, they'll likely be down a member as Pierce Brosnan's Doctor Fate sacrificed himself to stop Hawkman from going to his death.

As Black Adam is now the protector of Kahndaq, Sarah Shahi should be back as Adrianna (who goes on to become Isis in the comics) and Bodhi Sabongui should also return as Adrianna's son Amon.

We had previously thought an appearance from Henry Cavill as Superman was guaranteed, but as mentioned before, that's now not going to happen as he's officially exited the role.

Black Adam 2 trailer: Any Black Adam 2 footage yet?

Unsurprisingly not because, as mentioned, Black Adam 2 has yet to be confirmed, let alone started filming.

We'll be waiting a while for something that might not even happen, so don't hold your breath.

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Ian Sandwell

Movies Editor, Digital Spy  Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor.  Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world.   After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.