Warning: Black Adam spoilers ahead.
Dwayne Johnson and cinematographer Lawrence Sher have revealed how did that black adam cameo come aboutwhich was shot in secret.
As reported by THR, Henry Cavill’s long-awaited return as Superman during Black Adam’s post-credits scene was not a moment that the team behind the film had planned from the start, but instead it was something that was added near the end during the reshoots.
Although Superman’s cameo got the team excited, was initially rejected by the then president of DC FilmsWalter Hamada, as he had his own plan for Superman’s future, which included the introduction of a black Superman.
However, this did not stop Johnson, who surrounded Hamada and spoke with the heads of Warner Bros. Pictures, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, to get it, and they both took their side. The pair gave the team a very tight deadline, but that didn’t stop them from getting Cavill and making the cameo a reality.
On THR’s Behind the Screen podcast, Sher discussed how the scene was shot and that work began on the realization of the cameo even before everything was approved. The first step, according to Sher, was to film Johnson’s part in the post-credits scene and then try to get Cavill to appear.
“If we get Henry in it, we’ll figure it out at a future date,” Sher said.
Sher said Black Adam director Jaume Collet-Serra wanted to simply use the throne room set that was already in place, create “something for Dwayne to walk into,” and then shoot it in “like 10 minutes.”
That scene was the last one to be shot on the last day of additional filming.and the team then created the second part of the scene with “a body double [de Superman] and a version of the 1978 Superman theme by John Williams that they found on Google.” Superman’s face was never shown, and the spotlight was on his iconic emblem.
“Seeing an actor come out of a full silhouette to go into that, it gave you goosebumps. Wow, this is going to work 100 percent. Now they have to figure out if they can get the guy with the head to be there.'” Sher recalls.
The team showed your work in progress to a test audience, and “it worked like a charm”. That further inspired them to get Cavill back and the rest, as they say, is history.
“There are certain people who are as iconic as the characters they play, and [Cavill es] really one of them,” says Sher.
To find out more, check out our Black Adam review, our explanation of the ending, and what Cavill’s cameo means for the DCEU.
