DC’s original Golden Age Atom will reportedly make an appearance in the upcoming Black Adam film.
The Atom, also known by his civilian name Al Pratt, will appear as the uncle of Atom-Smasher, who is played by Noah Centineo, The Direct reported. There is no indication of who will play the role of Al Pratt, but it is believed that both heroes will wear the same outfit at one point in the film.
In the DC Universe, Atom-Smasher is the godson of Al Pratt, who first appeared in 1940’s All-American Comics #19 and was created by Bill O’Connor and Ben Flinton.
Unlike Ray Palmer and Ryan Choi, other characters who have since used the Atom moniker, the first Atom did not have shrinking powers. Possibly based off of real-life circus strongman Joe Greenstein — also known as the Mighty Atom — Pratt was originally depicted as an unassuming, diminutive college student who studied the art of fighting under Joseph Morgan, the same man who trained the superhero Wildcat.
Pratt’s earliest stories featured him typically underestimated by foes due to his small size, only to show them up. He would later go on to become a founding member of the Justice Society of America as well as the All-Star Squadron.
Eventually he was awarded actual super strength, a change that was explained in 1983’s All-Star Squadron Annual #2 by Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway, due to him absorbing a dose of a radiation from the villain Cyclotron.
The character was killed by the supervillain Extant in the 1994 DC event Zero Hero and reanimated as a Black Lantern in the 2009 Blackest Night crossover. A revised New 52 version of Al Pratt — an army sergeant who could grow to giant size — was revealed in the pages of DC’s 2012 Earth-2 series, and most recently, Pratt appeared in his original incarnation along with the rest of the Justice Society in the pages of 2018’s Justice League series.
Black Adam is set to introduce the Justice Society to the DC Extended Universe. Aside from Noah Centineo as Atom-Smasher, the film will star Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate and Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and starring Dwayne Johnson as the titular antihero, Black Adam arrives in theaters on July 29, 2022.
Source: The Direct
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