Despite the fact that DC Creative Office Geoff Johns seems to have made it perfectly clear last month that Black Adam (as portrayed by Dwayne Johnson) would not be making an appearance in the ‘Shazam!’ movie, many fans have held out hope that this might turn out to be a false rumor, as they were looking forward to seeing the villain/anti-hero appear on-screen along-side his nemesis Shazam.
However, while speaking to Film Riot about the finished ‘Shazam!’ script, the director himself, David F. Sandberg, had the following to say about Black Adam’s involvement:
“So yeah, The Rock has been cast as Black Adam, but he’s not going to be featured in this film. There’ve been variations of the script like before I came along where Black Adam was in and out and, you know. But now, this is about Shazam.”
If you look at it that way, what he is saying makes a good amount of sense. The general public may not know much about Shazam, and throwing in another character, especially one played by Dwayne Johnson, would be a huge distraction and may cause people to think the movie is actually about Black Adam, or make them think Black Adam is actually Shazam. This way the focus stays on Billy Batson and Shazam, and when they introduce Black Adam, it will be something better because audiences will know Shazam and appreciate him having a powerful villain to fight on-screen with. Plus, from the standpoint of Warner Bros and DC, this gives them to potential for a great sequel to ‘Shazam!’ when they can introduce Black Adam, or even a whole other movie/franchise starring Dwayne Johnson, all of which they could be open to if ‘Shazam!’ does well enough in theaters, which is a bit of a gamble considering the more light-hearted tone they are going for.
Are you disappointed to hear yet more confirmation that Black Adam will not be in ‘Shazam!’ Or are you ok with it and are just looking forward to seeing Shazam up on the big screen? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
