Black Adam: Dwayne Johnson pushed for Black Adam to not be featured in Shazam

Dwayne Johnson has been welcomed into the DC universe with open arms. Who can blame them, as the megastar has generated around $12 billion globally with multiple franchises. A hulking physique like his is undoubtedly made for superhero films, and he will finally make his comic book movie debut with Black Adam in theaters this fall. Black Adam was a long road to the screen, but it actually could’ve been a lot sooner for him because it was initially written that Black Adam was the villain in the first Shazam movie.

IndieWire reports on a recent interview Johnson had with Vanity Fair, where it was revealed that he did not want one movie to cram two origin stories for two different superhero characters, especially since they’re so different. Johnson explains,

When the first draft of the movie came to us, it was a combination of Black Adam and Shazam: Two origin stories in one movie. Now that was the goal — so it wasn’t a complete surprise. But when I read that, I just knew in my gut, ‘We can’t make this movie like this. We would be doing Black Adam an incredible disservice.’ It would’ve been fine for Shazam having two origin stories converge in one movie, but not good for Black Adam.”

Johnson had been in talks with DC prior to the release of the first Shazam film in 2019. In the comics, Shazam and Black Adam were the equivalents of Superman and Zod as they both share similar powers and strength. With famous rivals, it’s natural to want the cinematic debut of a character to feature the most popular conflicts of their property. However, this is something Johnson feels would pay off better if it was built up slower.

Additionally, the post-credits scene with Shazam featured no hint of Black Adam. And the trailer for Shazam: Fury of the Gods features Helen Mirren as the main villain. Black Adam opens October 22nd. Maybe then we’ll get a tease of the future enemies doing battle.

What do you think? Do you think it’ll pay off? Sound off below!