Warner confirms two films: ‘Shazam’ and ‘Black Adam’ as Dwayne Johnson gets more excited
Dwayne Johnson recently revealed that he had a productive meeting with the folks at DC Comics to talk about his long-in-the-works starring turn as Black Adam in the DC Extended Universe, and it appears that one of the topics discussed at that meeting was giving the DC villain his own movie.
Shazam, which has been on Warner Bros.’ tentative DC slate for a while now, but will be split into two separate movies, per Deadline.
One will focus on the titular hero, while Johnson’s villain Black Adam will get his own feature headline.
From Johnson’s Facebook:
“Had a very cool and strategic meeting with the heads of DC Comics about their entire universe. As a hard core DC fan, to get a real sense of the tonal shifts and developments coming in these future movies has me fired up. Something we, as DC fans have all been waiting for. Hope, optimism & FUN. I’m excited about our future together and you should be to.
“Even when talking about the the most ruthless villain/anti-hero of all time finally coming to life. Prepare yourselves DC Universe. #KneelAtHisFeet #OrGetCrushedByHisBoot #BlackAdam⚡️”
Black Adam, meanwhile, is Captain Marvel’s archenemy and sometimes antihero of the DC-verse. Johnson was given the choice of playing either Black Adam or Shazam in the early development of the film package.
In the comics, Shazam is also known as Captain Marvel and is a hero who first came to prominence in the 30s and 40s, but Warner Bros. will try to avoid the “Captain Marvel” moniker as Marvel Studios is already deep in development on their adaptation of its own separate superhero with the same name.
Collider reminds its readers: “…on Christmas Day, Johnson shared an image of him hanging with Henry Cavill’s Superman, teasing a DC collaboration, so it’s possible we could see a potential Superman/Black Adam movie on the horizon. Or maybe Johnson has a cameo as Black Adam in Justice League?”
Shazam is set for April 5, 2019