After years of speculation, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has recently been vocal about starring in DC Comics’ Shazam! movie based on the long-running superhero once named Captain Marvel (though since changed to Shazam for obvious legal reasons). However, Johnson was coy about whether or not he’d be playing Shazam himself — a superhero who is really the young Billy Batson after saying the word “Shazam” — or if he’d be playing Shazam’s arch-nemesis Black Adam.
Today Johnson finally put all the speculation to rest: in a tweet he revealed that he will be playing Black Adam.
Black Adam is one of the coolest superheroes in DC Comics, and much of that is because in recent years he hasn’t been as much a villain but a ruthless antihero with a different moral compass than modern superheroes. Black Adam was an ancient Egyptian (later revised to the fictional country of Kahndaq) who was bestowed with magical powers by the wizard Shazam whenever he uttered the wizard’s name. However, when Black Adam uses his power to rule over his country the wizard took away his power. When the wizard later gives his power to modern day child Billy Batson to become the superhero Shazam, Black Adam reemerges and continually challenges Shazam for the power he rightfully thinks is his. In the nearly 70 years of Black Adam’s comic book history, Black Adam has even served as a member of the heroic Justice Society of America, the dictator of modern day Kahndaq, and even once declared war on the world — all by himself.
One of the best aspects of this casting is that we’ll finally get to see The Rock play a villainous character on screen. He’s often cast as the hero — and why not? He looks like a hero — but this will give him a chance to expose his nasty side.
Though no director or release date is set, Darren Lemke (Goosebumps, Turbo, Jack the Giant Slayer) will be writing the script.
So did Johnson make the right choice? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
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