'Black Adam' Cast Adds Pierce Brosnan As DC Superhero Doctor Fate

The Black Adam cast has a new addition: Pierce Brosnan, who is set to play Doctor Fate in the upcoming Jaume Collet-Serra-directed film. Dwayne Johnson stars as the title character, an antihero who breaks out of his super-prison and has to be stopped by a group of superheroes known as the Justice Society Of America. Brosnan's Doctor Fate will be part of that group, which also includes Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, and Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone. Marwan Kenzari is also on board as the movie's villain.

THR has the scoop on Pierce Brosnan joining the Black Adam cast as Doctor Fate. Late last year it was reported that the production was looking for a "Sam Rockwell type" to play this character, and while I certainly don't think of Brosnan as being anything like Sam Rockwell, I'm still interested in this casting. While he's primarily known for his James Bond work, Brosnan is a talented character actor who would be better served by weirder, out-of-left-field roles like this.

I can't say I'm familiar with Doctor Fate as a character, but the handy DC Wiki tells me that the character, whose real name is Kent Nelson, is "a powerful sorcerer and agent for the Lords of Order who fights evil alongside his wife Inza. His amulet, cloak and helmet are creations of the ancient Nabu who acts as his mentor and spiritual guide. He is a founding member of the Justice Society of America." Honestly, that sounds like a bit of a Doctor Strange knock-off, but Doctor Fate has actually been around longer, making his first appearance in 1940.

In Black Adam, Dwayne Johnson plays the title character, a member of an ancient civilization chosen by the Council of Wizards – who also helped out Billy Batson in Shazam! – to become a hero and save his people. But when Black Adam's methods were considered to be too cruel and villainous, he was imprisoned by the council for 5000 years. Now, he's escaped, and it's up to the Justice Society to stop him.

Johnson has been attached to the Black Adam role for a while now. At one point, he was going to appear as the bad guy in Shazam!, but it was decided to give him his own solo adventure first. If all goes according to plan, Black Adam and Shazam will meet up in a future Shazam! film. Jaume Collet-Serra is directing Black Adam, with a script credited to Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani, and Adam Sztykiel.