Dwayne Johnson Explained Why He Fought For Black Adam Solo Movie, Rather Than A Villain In ‘Shazam’

You have to say thanks to Dwayne Johnson ‘The Rock’ for getting us the Black Adam solo movie, as initially it was meant to be just a villain in ‘Shazam.’ 

This will be the debut for the character and Dwayne Johnson into DCEU, making it one of the highly anticipated movies of the year. 

The fact came to the light that before ‘The Rock’ intervened, Black Adam was going to be the part of ‘Shazam’ story as a villain, not getting his standalone film. 

He recently dived into the reasons in detail, explaining why he made efforts to get Black Adam a solo movie, whereas we were going to see the character in ‘Shazam’ as a villain. 

Actually, Dwayne Johnson was announced as a cast for playing this anti-hero DC character Black Adam 15 years ago. 

As we had seen, the plan changed when Zachary Levi starred in Shazam! Released in 2019, and now its sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods is releasing in December this year. 

Black Adam is also hitting the theatres on October 21st, even before the release of ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’. 

Dwayne Johnson Confirming Fighting Over Black Adam Solo Film  

Sometime before, Dwayne Johnson replied to a tweet sharing about Shazam! movie was released without the Black Adam storyline. 

He tweeted, “ 100% true Original script had both #BlackAdam #Shazam establishes their origin stories in one film. I fought hard for both characters (+ JSA) to have their stand-alone films for the fans to enjoy. 

Further adding “And protect Black Adam’s ruthless & extremely violent tone as we build out #DCEU.” 

A fascinating revelation here is Dwayne Johnson doesn’t just want to have different standalone films on Black Adam and Shazam but also the JSA (Justice Society of America).

However, that’s not happening, for now, instead, JSA will be featured alongside Black Adam in his movie. 

JSA characters such as Atom Smasher is played by Noah Centineo, Doctor Fate by Pierce Brosnan, Cyclone by Quintessa Swindell, and Hawkman by Aldis Hodge. 

Finally, we get to watch the JSA in the DCEU, whereas it has only been shown so far in Arrowverse shows or DC animation. 

Who is Black Adam? 

Image Source: IGN

If you read the official bio of this character on the DC comics websites, it goes like this “One of the world’s foremost wielders of magic; Black Adam has been both hero and villain over a life that’s spanned thousands of years.” 

Simply put, Black Adam is more of an ‘evil’ version or just opposite of Zachary Levi’s Shazam. He is a well-known nemesis of Shazam from the comics, both published in the 1940s. 

His character is created by Otto Binder and C.C Beck where in comics, popularly known as the archnemesis of Captain Marvel and the Marvel family. 

He also was the first champion to be picked by Wizard Shazam, who also gave power to superhero Shazam to become the magically empowered superhero. 

Why Dwayne Johnson Black Adam Solo Movie? 

“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,” Dwayne Johnson shared with Vanity Fair.   

He further added, “ 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.”

Well, it could have been great to see two origin stories i.e of, Shazam and Black Adam in one movie with co-relation shown in comics. 

However, it could have been too much or unfair to both characters as there won’t be enough screen time to let them grow on screen. 

Image Source: ComicYears

Overall it was a good decision as now we get to see Black Adam get more screen time and a proper origin story along with JSA. 

Johnson continued, “ I made a phone call” adding, “ I said, ‘I have to share my thoughts here. It is very unpopular..’ because everybody thought, ‘Hey, this script is great, let’s go make this movie I said, ‘ I really think 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.”

It is only sensible to agree with Dwayne Johnson here due to Shazam! Being a solo movie managed to have that comedic and meta tone which was quite appreciated and enjoyed. 

So far, Dwayne Johnson’s idea seems to be working, but only time will tell the fate of the ‘Black Adam’ movie on its release date, October 21st, 2022. 

The film is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who is known for directing films like House of Wax (2005), Orphan (2009), Unknown (2011), Non-Stop (2014), and recently with Dwayne Jonson himself in Jungle Cruise 2021).

Feature Image Source: Indian Express

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