Dwayne Johnson Fought to Prevent Black Adam from Appearing in “Shazam!” in Order to Prevent Doing the Character a “Disservice”

Johnson describes in a recent interview how strictly he has guarded Black Adam over the years.

 

Many people find it strange that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has waited this long to star in a comic book movie franchise, given his fame as one of the biggest action performers in the world. The former wrestler may have had his pick of superhero roles in the past, but Black Adam has always been the one he has had his eye on. Johnson has first connected to the position ten years ago when he began negotiations to portray the antagonist in the film that would eventually become “Shazam!

 

Given that they both acquired their talents from the same wizard, Black Adam and Shazam have always been rivals in comic books. Many believed that a movie with the two of them in conflict would be a natural fit. Johnson eventually decided against moving forward with that project, which prompted officials at Warner Bros. to create a stand-alone picture to feature the antagonist.

 

Johnson’s desire came true, and “Black Adam” will be released in theatres this fall. Johnson outlined his reasons for holding out to make sure Black Adam gets his own movie in a recent interview with Vanity Fair.

 

When the first screenplay of the film was given to us, it combined the origin stories of Black Adam and Shazam, according to Johnson. That wasn’t a full surprise because that was the intended outcome. We can’t make this movie like this, I just knew when I read that. A tremendous disservice would be done to Black Adam if we did so. Having two origin stories come together in one film would have been acceptable for Shazam, but not for Black Adam.

 

Johnson called and expressed his unease with the notion in response to that feeling. He added that Black Adam and Shazam are quite dissimilar characters and that it would be unfair to both of them to introduce them in the same film. He thought that having both characters presented in different movies would ultimately make any potential clash between the two characters richer.

 

I declared, “I must express my opinions here. Because everyone thought, “Hey, this script is amazing, let’s go make this movie,” it is extremely unpopular. I told her, “I really think you should make ‘Shazam!,’ make that movie by itself in the manner you desire. And I believe that we ought to segregate this as well.

 

The movie “Black Adam” will premiere on October 21, 2022.