For the past year, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been chomping at the bit to play a comic book character in a live action movie. He missed out on playing Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy, but scored a great opportunity when he landed the role of Black Adam, which officially confirmed an upcoming Shazam movie from the DC Cinematic Universe. Shazam, which will be released in theaters by 2019, isn’t even close to beginning production, but Johnson, in his role as executive producer of the film, is stoked about the possibility of exploring his character’s origins, traveling the path of an “anti-hero” and maybe, just maybe, going a few rounds with Batman and Superman down the road.
It’s all written within the spirit of respecting and paying homage to the comics. As we know, Black Adam started out as a slave. When he’s given the powers, he utilised them. Then in the wake of his powers, tragedy strikes, which turns his sentiment and tone in terms of psychology…One day you will see Black Adam go at it with Superman or Batman or any of the DC characters. But that said, there’s a great independence to Black Adam from the DC world, allowing us to inject, not only viciousness, but also winking humour.
All of this sounds well and good, but premature is the name of game right now. Shazam hasn’t even found a director, let alone actors who will star opposite Johnson as the protagonists, Billy Batson and his alter ego/title character, also right now, there is no DC world yet. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice hasn’t even released an official trailer yet, so maybe it would be wise to pump the brakes on toting this movie and the characters for now.
