'Black Adam' Will Introduce The DC Supervillain Group Intergang

Black Adam is bringing Dwayne Johnson into the big-screen world of DC Comics as the titular anti-hero who was granted powers by the wizard Shazam thousands of years ago. Joining him will be the superhero team known as Justice Society, but they won't be the only DC Comics team making an appearance in the movie. According to Black Adam co-star Sarah Shahi, the supervillain team Intergang will be making their debut in Black Adam.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, actress Sarah Shahi confirmed who she will be playing in the movie, and with it came another big reveal. Shahi said:

"I play a character named Adrianna, and she's a freedom fighter that's leading this big resistance against an evil, malicious group called Intergang."

For those unfamiliar, Intergang is a supervillain team created by Jack Kirby that first appeared as Superman villains in the comic Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #133. The criminal gang was first formed by Bruno Mannheim, and they were able to tangle with superheroes because they were supplied with weaponry from the New Gods, including Darkseid, who hoped to use them to find the Anti-Life Equation. But how will they tie into Black Adam since that plot device was something that was already exhausted in Justice League (and even moreso in Zack Snyder's director's cut of the movie)?

In the pages of the 52 arc of DC Comics, Intergang crossed paths with Black Adam in his homeworld of Kahndaq by offering him a bride in the form of Adrianna Tomaz (that's the character Sarah Shahi is playing) in exchange for the safe passage of their smuggling activity nearby. Black Adam ends up killing the two criminals, but keeping Adrianna around.

We're not sure how much the comics of the 52 arc will influence the Black Adam movie, but since Adrianna becomes Black Adam's wife and the superpowered character Isis, we'll likely see her playing a key role in the movie, especially if she's leading the charge against Intergang. However, since she's described as a freedom fighter, perhaps she's yet to be endowed with superpowers, which come from an Egyptian amulet in the comics.

As for Intergang's motivations in Black Adam, that remains unclear. We're not even sure if they'll still be weaponized by the New Gods since that would create more ties to Zack Snyder's Justice League and Warner Bros. is trying to wrap up that part of the DC Comics franchises.

Previously, we heard that Marwan Kenzari had joined the cast as the film's villain. Rumors pointed to the Aladdin co-star playing Ishmael Gregor, AKA Sabbac. Though that character has never been linked to Intergang in the comics, the big screen version of the character will be a New York City mob boss who gains superhuman strength and demon-like appearance after initiating a ritual to possess the powers of Sabbac. That character is part of a superhero team called The Outsiders in DC Comics, but we could easily see him being in charge of Intergang instead without really ruining the comic mythology.

For now, we're not sure which members of Intergang might be appearing in Black Adam. Since the movie also has Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, and Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate, they'll need plenty of bad guys to throw around, so we can expect Intergang to be formidable foes in the movie directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.

Black Adam is currently in the final week of production and it's slated to hit theaters on July 29, 2022.