Black Adam Movie Casts Noah Centineo as JSA’s Atom Smasher

The rumors are true, Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam movie will also introduce characters from the Justice Society of America to the DCEU. Word on the JSA’s inclusion has been making the rounds for some time, but one of the key members of the team (and one with ties to Black Adam) has now been cast. Via THR Noah Centineo has been cast as Albert Rothstein, the hero formerly known as Nuklon, who then took on the role of Atom Smasher when he joined the JSA.

Albert Rothstein is the grandson of the supervillain known as Cyclotron and the godson of founding JSA member Al Pratt, the original Atom. He can control his size and density and is tremendously strong. It’s unclear if Rothstein’s backstory will remain the same in the film, but if so, Black Adam will allow the DCEU to finally dig into some more of its past.

Johnson has long touted Black Adam as an anti-hero rather than a villain, and the inclusion of Atom Smasher in the movie is a big hint towards that. While it’s likely that Black Adam will be facing off against the JSA at some point, in the comics, he had a particular bond with Atom Smasher. If they go the route of the comics, the arc of Centineo’s Atom Smasher could end up making him almost like a co-lead in the film.

The Justice Society of America has been a prominent feature on DC Universe and The CW’s Stargirl TV series, although they haven’t introduced Atom Smasher (and likely won’t since he’s now headed for the big screen). Don’t be surprised if other JSA mainstays like Hawkman make an appearance in this film, as well.

Centineo is the first actor since Johnson to be cast for Black Adam. He’s also long been slated to play He-Man in Sony’s long-delayed Masters of the Universe movie, but it’s not clear if that’s still happening. Jaume Collet-Serra will direct, from a script by Adam Sztykiel.

Black Adam is currently scheduled for release on December 22, 2021, but with seemingly all 2020 movies now getting bumped to the following calendar year, and with filming not yet started on this film, it’s likely this will slip to 2022. DC is touting a big event in august called DC Fandome, which promises to reveal details about many upcoming DC movie and TV projects, so perhaps we’ll learn more about Black Adam and the big screen version of the JSA then.

And hey, maybe this means that after Shazam 2, a few members of the Shazam family could join the DCEU JSA!

The full schedule of upcoming DC superhero movies can be found here.