Considering Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s status as one of the world’s biggest action stars, many find it surprising that he’s waited so long to star in a comic book film series. While the former wrestler probably could have had a variety of superhero roles in the past, he’s always had one specific role in mind: Black Adam. Johnson was first linked to the role a decade ago when he entered talks to play the villain in the film, which eventually became 2019’s Shazam!
Black Adam and Shazam have always been enemies in the comics as they got their superpowers from the same wizard. For many, a movie pitting the two against each other seemed like a natural fit. But Johnson eventually backed out of that project, encouraging Warner Bros. executives to develop a standalone film to introduce the villain in a separate film.
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Johnson got his wish, and Black Adam is slated to hit theaters this fall. In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Johnson explained why he pushed for Black Adam to get his own movie.
“When the first draft of the film came to us, it was a combination of Black Adam and Shazam: Two origin stories in one film,” Johnson said. “Well, that was the goal – so it wasn’t a total surprise. But when I read that, I just knew in my gut, ‘We can’t do this movie like this. We’d be doing Black Adam an incredible disservice.” Merging two origin stories into one film would have been fine for Shazam, but not good for Black Adam.”
That feeling prompted Johnson to make a phone call expressing his unease at the idea. He explained that Black Adam and Shazam are fundamentally different characters and it would be a disservice to both to feature them both in the same film. He believed that in the end any possible showdown between the two characters would be richer if they were each featured in separate films.
The story goes on
“I said, ‘I have to share my thoughts here. It’s very unpopular” because everyone was like, ‘Hey, this script is great, let’s make this movie.’ I said, ‘I really think you like ‘Shazam!’ should do, do this film in the tone you want. And I think we should separate that too.’”
Black Adam hits theaters on October 21, 2022.
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