Noah Centineo Cast In DC’s ‘Black Adam’ Film Alongside Dwayne Johnson

Noah Centineo is joining Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the upcoming DC Comics film Black Adam, which is a spinoff from Shazam!, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Since breaking out in Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Centineo has become very popular in the entertainment industry. In this latest project, he’ll play Atom Smasher, who fans may recognize from The CW series, The Flash.

Atom Smasher “can control his molecular structure” and “manipulate his size and strength.”

In the comics, his real name is Albert Rothstein. It is not yet clear if the 24-year-old actor’s character will use that name or if a new identity will be created specifically for the movie.

The report from The Hollywood Reporter noted that details about the plot have not yet been revealed.

Initially, Black Adam was “created as the archnemesis for the hero now known as Shazam,” but these days, he is one of the most popular DC characters, having evolved into a layered, complex antihero.

On social media, the reactions to Centineo’s casting have been mixed. Fans of The Fosters alum are excited to see him making a splash on the big screen. Before this, the majority of his projects have been in Netflix original movies or television shows, and his supporters are hoping a movie of this caliber could catapult him to the A-List.

That said, there have been a substantial amount of people hating on the casting choice because they are not fans of Centineo’s, but many Twitter users have come to his defense.

“He fits the bill he can be really good most people haven’t even seen him act and are just hopping on the bandwagon,” wrote one person.

“Noah Centineo hasn’t really had a big franchise role. ‘MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE’ doesn’t seem to be happening if he’s signing up for ‘BLACK ADAM.’ He didn’t scream HE-MAN to me, but I feel like he can play ATOM SMASHER with very little expectations. I don’t understand the hate,” contributed another.

Aside from Johnson and Centineo, the rest of the film’s cast has not yet been revealed. Jaume Collet-Serra, who previously worked with Johnson on the upcoming Disney movie Jungle Cruise, will direct the superhero flick.

Before landing a leading role in New Line’s Shazam! spin-off, Centineo was announced as He-Man in a new Masters of the Universe film, which also has ties to DC Comics. However, according to an October 2019 article from The Hollywood Reporter, the fate of the Sony project is undecided and may wind up going directly to a streaming service.