Dwayne Johnson Refused to Have Black Adam Appear in Shazam

Dwayne Johnson is set to have his DCEU debut this October in Black Adam, a project that has been in the works for a very long time. Initially, the character was supposed to make his first appearance in Shazam! before Warner Bros. decided to have his debut in a solo movie instead. Now, we have the reason why.

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Johnson explained why he fought for Black Adam to have him appear first in a solo movie instead of having him be introduced in Shazam! The actor felt that it would be a "disservice" to his character if he shared the same movie with Shazam for their origin stories.

"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," Johnson recalled. "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."

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Johnson went on to convince the studio to have Black Adam appear in a solo movie instead which, as we all know now, ended up happening. The character was still referenced in Shazam! when the wizard revealed that he gave the abilities once "recklessly" to the wrong person. While recounting his story to Billy Batson, an illuminated figure appears that looks like Johnson.

So far, it is still unknown yet whether Shazam and Black Adam will eventually share the same screen in the future. There have been plans to have the two characters appear together in a DCEU film, but Warner Bros. has not made any confirmation regarding it.

A lot of fans have expressed their interest in the two characters having a showdown in the future. It would be curious to see whether it will eventually happen, especially since Johnson is also eyeing having his character fight the Man of Steel.

Also Read: Black Adam Director Shares New Details About Noah Centineo's Atom Smasher

Black Adam is slated for release in theaters on October 21.