Dwayne Johnson Won't Be in DC's 'Shazam!' Movie
News broke at Comic-Con this week that the next hero up in DC’s movie universe is Shazam!, a story about an orphan who gains near-godlike powers. However, in his initial outing, Shazam won’t be facing his greatest foe.
Geoff Johns, the chief creative officer of DC and, with Jon Berg, architect of the DC Extended Universe, told Yahoo Movies on Thursday that Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam will be MIA from Shazam!
“We haven’t announced any casting yet,” Johns said. “But Dwayne isn’t going to be in this movie. He’s still doing Black Adam, but he won’t be in Shazam!”
Johnson and DC will be developing Black Adam concurrent with Shazam!, with the idea that the two will eventually face off onscreen.
Shazam! will be directed by David F. Sandberg (Annabelle: Creation), with cameras rolling early next year for a 2019 release.
Created in 1939 by Fawcett Comics as a rival to Superman, Shazam was originally called Captain Marvel. DC acquired the character in the 1970s and, to avoid confusion with Marvel Comics’ same-named superhero (who will be played onscreen by Brie Larson in March 2019), DC began calling theirs simply Shazam in recent years.
In most versions of the origin story, Billy Batson is an orphan boy who crosses path with an ancient wizard who bestows upon Billy the power of the gods when he shouts, “Shazam!” Shazam is an acronym for those powers: the wisdom of Solomon, strength of Hercules, stamina of Atlas, power of Zeus, courage of Achilles, and speed of Mercury. He’s derisively nicknamed the Big Red Cheese for a forthrightness that rivals the Man of Steel.
This won’t be the first screen adaptation of the hero; there was a Republic serialized version in 1941 and a 1970s TV show. For you those keeping score at home, none of those, despite popular belief, starred Sinbad.
Keep coming back to Yahoo Movies for the latest from San Diego Comic-Con 2017.
Watch: Dwayne Johnson Updates Us on ‘Black Adam’:
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