As the release of Black Adam nears, Dwayne Johnson sat down with Vanity Fair to discuss the titular role within the DC Universe.
In the interview, Johnson opened up about why it was so important for the character to have its own film instead of piggybacking off of another. He alluded that originally, Black Adam was supposed to make a cameo appearance in the second installment of Shazam!, however, he pushed back on the idea, saying it would ultimately be a “disservice” to the character. He explained,
“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. 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.”
The actor continues to add and acknowledge that this project was near and dear to his heart and that he really did not feel comfortable with the idea of Black Adam being a part of someone else’s storyline. He expressed his thoughts regarding the cameo stating, “I said, ‘I have to share my thoughts here. It’s 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.” With the upcoming release of Black Adam, it appears that studio execs agreed with Johnson. The film is slated to star Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Shahi, Quintessa Swindell and Marwan Kenzari alongside Johnson.
Black Adam arrives in theaters on October 21.
In case you missed it, Warner Bros. Discovery has confirmed which three DC projects are moving forward at HBO Max.
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