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DC's Original Black Adam & Shazam Movie Plans Revealed In Detail
Dwayne Johnson shares what Warner Bros.'s original crossover movie plans were going to be for Black Adam and Shazam before getting his own film. Black Adam with Dwayne Johnson has been in the works for roughly a decade, as Johnson was cast in September 2014 as the iconic Shazam villain. He was originally set to star in the Shazam solo movie but as Warner Bros. was still developing their cinematic universe, Johnson's Black Adam was instead given his own spinoff movie.
While Zachary Levi was cast as Shazam in the 2019 movie, the decision to give Johnson his own Black Adam movie did delay the anti-hero's cinematic debut. However, after several years of being stuck in development hell, Black Adam will finally arrive in theaters this fall. Re-imagined as an anti-hero, Black Adam will follow the origin story of Teth-Adam and how he goes from being a slave of Khandaq to becoming one of the DC Universe's most powerful beings. With Shazam! Fury of the Gods coming later this year too, it seems inevitable that Black Adam and Shazam will cross paths in the DCEU eventually.
Now, Johnson has opened up about the plans for the two DC icons in the original Shazam! film. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Johnson revealed how he was concerned when reading the first draft of the Shazam! script, feeling deep concern about the movie tackling not one but two massive origin stories in the same project. While Johnson was supportive of Shazam! as a movie, he quickly made the suggestion to Warner Bros. to make the film while also considering a Black Adam spinoff to let that character's mythology breathe on its own.
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“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. I made a phone call, I said, ‘I have to share my thoughts here. It’s very unpopular…’ because everybody thought, ‘Hey, this script is great, let’s go make this movie.’ I said, ‘I really think that you should make Shazam!, make that movie on its own in the tone that you want. And I think we should separate this as well.’”
In the end, Shazam! proceeded and had Mark Strong portray Dr. Sivana, another major villain in Billy Batson's rogue's gallery. However, the David F. Sandberg-directed film did heavily allude to Black Adam more than once, making it clear that Johnson's character still exists within that realm. Whether Black Adam, which will feature the Justice Society of America as his rivals, will make any allusions to Shazam remains to be seen. However, it's worth noting that having Black Adam and Shazam! Fury of the Gods coming out the same year only two months apart feels like there may be some setup happening for a future rivalry.
It's understandable why many would have preferred to see Shazam! feature Black Adam but Johnson's initial concerns are valid. Black Adam is one of the most popular DC villains of all time, and with Johnson portraying him, it's clear he will be a massive figure for the DCEU going forward. To honor that, having the Black Adam movie tell his origin story rather than it being crammed into Shazam! seems like the better choice. At this point, it seems like a safe bet that Shazam! 3 will be the DCEU project to have Levi's character come face-to-face with Johnson's Black Adam. Hopefully, whenever Black Adam and Shazam do meet up down the line, the wait will have been worth it.
