Shazam! director jokingly confirms that Black Adam was a dog in the movie

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

In the early days of conception for New Line and DC's SHAZAM!, it was to be believed that Dwayne Johnson would play the film's villain, Black Adam, opposite Zachary Levi's kid turned adult superhero, Shazam! Then, in August of 2018, Hiram Garcia of Seven Buck Productions explained to Collider that Black Adam would instead be getting his own solo film somewhere down the line.

"As we were developing an actual Black Adam and Shazam movie, we were just realizing that both characters are so special that we didn’t want to compromise either of them by cramming them both into the same movie. So that’s why we made the decision to let Shazam have his own standalone movie and kind of launch him properly, and then we’ll do the same for Black Adam. And so that kind of really freed things up. It allowed us to develop the right version of both," Garcia explained, putting a pin in the possibility of Johnson making his superhero film debut for in SHAZAM! for DC Films.

Understandably, a lack of the Box Office Behemoth in SHAZAM! upset a number of fans, though their anger was quickly quelled upon learning that Mark Strong would appear as the villain Dr. Sivana instead.

But what if all this Black Adam business was just a clever ruse? What if Black Adam did appear in the film but no one had made the connection until now?

Recently on Twitter, SHAZAM! director David F. Sandberg posted his answer to a fan question that read: I have a question was Black Adam the dog in Shazam? Sandberg, perhaps feeling a bit cheeky, replied "Yes. 100%."

I flippin' knew it, you guys! I mean, who else would be so indignant as to stand in our hero's way as he's holding an entire bus full of people above his head? I know the dude has got super strength and all, but the average city bus weighs between 25,000 and 40,000 pounds, and that's without taking the combined weight of the passengers into consideration! Could it be that the Border Collie that so defiantly sat in Shazam's way was Black Adam all along? I think so!

Well, I don't really think that, but it's worth a chuckle none the less.

This past April, Dwayne Johnson confirmed that a Black Adam solo film is indeed happening, and that the project "should start shooting in about a year."

When word came down that Black Adam would not appear in SHAZAM!, The JUMANJI actor then posted an update related to the iconic DC villain's big screen debut on Instagram. In the video post, Johnson explained that the new plan was to give both Shazam and Black Adam their own origin story films.

"The challenges were, as you guys can imagine, you're trying to tell two very big origin stories in the world of comic books of this DC universe. Two very important characters trying to tell both their origin stories in one script. I didn't think it was working. Finally, I called up Warner Bros., Toby Emmerich…I said, 'Brother, we have to split these stories and make two different movies.' He said, 'You know what? It is a great idea and let's do it," Johnson says in the video posted below.

For now, we know that a sequel to SHAZAM! is in the works with original screenwriter Henry Gayden penning the script, while director David F. Sandberg and producer Peter Sanfran expected to return for the follow-up as well. Presumably, Black Adam will arrive as the villain of that film, though it's still a bit early in the game to know for sure.

Meanwhile, SHAZAM! is set to arrive for home release on Digital come July 2, with 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD versions swooping onto shelves July 16.