Dwayne Johnson Pushed Warner Bros. To Leave Black Adam Out Of 'Shazam!' In 2019
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Dwayne Johnson has really got the hopes of fans high by repeatedly declaring that “the hierarchy of power in the DC universe is about to change” with the entry of Black Adam. With two trailers out, there’s already a lot of anticipation around the movie and the fate of the DCEU. However, did you know that we could have watched the anti-hero Black Adam debut on the big screen in the 2019 Shazam! movie?
Johnson had been confirmed to play Black Adam in the first Shazam! Movie as early as September 2014. However, things changed when he got a look at the script. In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Johnson revealed that the original plan was to relate the origin of Black Adam along with that of his nemesis, Shazam, in the same movie. However, it was the Rock himself who decided that doing so would be a huge “disservice” to the character. Johnson told the magazine, “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.”
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He went on to describe how he managed to get Black Adam all the limelight the character deserved: “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.’”
Johnson’s move was intriguing because in one of the comic book versions of the story, Black Adam and Shazam get their magical powers from the same source and are often seen fighting each other. The comic book history of Black Adam and Shazam is so closely tied together that the director of Shazam 2, David F. Sandberg, had recently posted a hilarious comic strip on his Instagram to convince DC fans that Black Adam will not be making an appearance in the second installment of Shazam!, which is set to release on December 21, 2022.
The upcoming Black Adam movie follows the comic book version where Black Adam gets his powers from a set of Egyptian gods. He then goes rogue and is imprisoned, only to return five millennia later to create a lot of trouble with his untamed ways of fighting for justice. He makes it clear in the movie trailer that he doesn’t shy away from killing, saying, “the world needed a hero; instead it got me” as he challenges all previously-established superhero ethics. He has a bittersweet relationship with the Justice Society of America (JSA), who try to make him change his methods (and will also make an appearance in the film).
Source: geektyrant
Black Adam is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. The screenplay is by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, and Sohrab Noshirvani. The movie stars Dwayne Johnson in the titular role with Pierce Brosnan as Kent Nelson/Doctor Fate, Noah Centineo as Albert Rothstein/Atom Smasher, Aldis Hodge as Carter Hall/Hawkman, Quintessa Swindell as Maxine Hunkel/Cyclone, Sarah Shahi as Professor Adrianna Tomaz, Marwan Kenzari as Ishmael Gregor/Sabbac, Bodhi Sabongui as Amon and Djimon Hounsou as Shazam. Black Adam is slated for release in theaters on October 21, 2022.
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Source(s): Variety, Vanity Fair