The Old Guard and Aladdin star Marwan Kenzari in talks to join Black Adam

Marwan Kenzari in Aladdin
(Image credit: Disney)

Marwan Kenzari, who appeared in Netflix's The Old Guard, and Disney's live-action remake of Aladdin, is reportedly in final negotiations for a role in DC movie Black Adam, per The Hollywood Reporter.

According to TheWrap, there are no official details about Kenzari's character yet, but their source tells them Kenzari will be playing the villain. Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson will play the titular, lead character, with star of Netflix's To All the Boys trilogy Noah Centineo playing Atom Smasher, Aldis Hodge portraying Hawkman, and Quintessa Swindell appearing as Cyclone. Sarah Shahi is also playing a university professor and freedom fighter.

If Kenzari is set to play the villain in Black Adam, we already have a good idea of what he'll bring to the role – he played the menacing big bad Jafar in Aladdin. His role as immortal warrior Joe in the The Old Guard was more heroic, though.

As for Black Adam, Johnson shared some details at DC FanDome: "He is a ruthless keeper of justice, the judge, the jury, and the executioner. He will always do everything he can to protect his people, and more so his family." 

The character is a regular nemesis of Captain Marvel (Zachary Levi's character in Shazam!, not Brie Larson's) in DC Comics, so there could be a crossover on the cards at some point in the future. Black Adam will also see the DCEU introduction of the Justice Society. 

Jaume Collet-Serra is directing, who previously worked with Johnson for Disney's Jungle Cruise movie, which co-stars Emily Blunt.

There's no release date for Black Adam yet, though THR says it will start shooting in April. You can check out our guide to 2021's movie release dates while you wait – and find out how to watch DC movies in order for a catch-up movie marathon.

Molly Edwards
Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.