Dwayne Johnson Officially Cast as Black Adam for ‘Shazam’ Movie!


Dwayne Johnson has been teasing it for months, tweeting such things as “just say the name” with pictures of Shazam embedded. He even had a stint where he played with our feeble little geek emotions, stating he was unsure if he were to play Shazam or his nemesis Black Adam. Of course, when he said this it just clicked. He LOOKS like Black Adam.

And then he posted this yesterday:

This not only confirms DC’s moving forward with a Shazam flick, but we also know who the next major villain shall be in the DC Cinematic Universe (outside of BvS:DoJ). In most mythologies, Black Adam is the first individual to gain the power of the wizard Shazam, having to only state his name to gain his godlike powers, but power corrupts and he becomes a villain (or more recently an anti-hero). Black Adam originates from Egyptian times, and now fights his way to the modern era to reclaim his title of all-powerful from Captain Marvel (or Shazam as he’s now exclusively referred).

What do you guys think? Is Johnson up to the task?

14 thoughts on “Dwayne Johnson Officially Cast as Black Adam for ‘Shazam’ Movie!

  1. What’s kind of interesting about the history of Captain Marvel is… National Periodical (DC) sued Fawcett into oblivion with the claim that Cap was “too close” to Superman… but Cap never has been so interchangeable with Superman as he has been since DC absorbed him into their universe.

    DC has done some good stuff… but outside of that, he is largely used as a Superman standin… and all the stuff that was unique about him has mostly faded away.

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  2. But how do the dark! street cred! demands of “modern” comics and their movies reconcile themselves with the purity, innocence and hope of Captain Marvel? Is his costume going to be red, or a dark burgundy vignetting to black?

    This is Captain America versus Red Skull territory, Billy Batson needs to be a pure heroic boy, and Captain Marvel needs to be the Big Red Cheese. It doesn’t have to be a silly movie but it definitely needs to have heart. Ben Stiller at his best could pull of writing and directing this sort of film; few others could.

    Shazam! for today’s mainstream audience (who no longer read DC and rightly so) needs to blend early Smallville pseudo-Rockwell Americana and the Shazam! we saw in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. They captured it perfectly, and without all the PC interpolations of recent comicbooks.

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    1. Hmm yes. I haven’t thought too much about that. Of course they can play the classic costume off as something he can’t control, as it’s gifted by the archaic wizard. Could be a funny scene after the initial awesomefest

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      1. Casting Billy and Captain Marvel is really going to make or break this one I think. They need to catch the same lightning in a bottle (see what I did there?) as the Robert Downey Jr. casting- take it over the top. And find the fun a la Guardians of the Galaxy!

        But Captain Marvel is my all time favorite superhero so I really want to see this one work!

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      2. I think if more people read his original run from the golden age, a lot more people would love the character too.

        Very much like the recent Batman Brave and Bold cartoon, the comic covered every conceivable sort of stories, even grownup type stories as well as early stories about parallel worlds, Tawky Tawny the rakshasa (what else could he really be?), the axis supervillains and of course – Mister Mind.

        But in terms of Captain Marvel- one magic word and he becomes a hero! It’s the prototype of Thor, of so many others.

        I love the alchemy, the lost world elements, the wish fulfillment elements – and the hope of his world. Such a dramatic contrast to most other heroes.

        The more recent versions are just not doing it for me, I am not an especial Parker fan for example and the new iteration is bone crushingly awful like most of nuDC.

        Thor at his best in the Kirby era was the same- anything could happen! ANYTHING!

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  3. So excited! The main danger right now is getting someone lackluster for Billy Batson and/or Captain Marvel, or just getting a bad movie in general. We could end up with another Green Lantern, with a great villain and meh rest-of-the-movie.

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  4. Joy. I really don’t like this guy. When he made movies like Walking Tall, sure, but then came shit like the Tooth Fairy. Seriously? I mean, I get his reasons for acting in stuff like that, but I can NEVER take him seriously again.

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    1. Try and name an actor that hasn’t been in something abysmally bad… I’ll bet it is a short list.

      Tom Hanks started in crap… I’m not saying Johnson is Hanks… but I’ll forgive some bad movies when the guy has also been in good ones.

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      1. I don’t consider his kids movies bad, I understand his motivation behind starring in them. And I find that admirable. Not many “macho” Hollywood men are willing to come in children-oriented movies.

        I just can’t take him seriously in a more macho role, EVER AGAIN, after seeing him prance around in a fricking tutu.

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      2. I guess I just don’t see what one role has to do with another. If he’s a bad actor, that’s one thing… but if he’s in a bad movie or just one I don’t like… then I ignore that and move on to the next one.

        I mean… if a tutu means you can’t take him seriously in anything after that… then why isn’t the reverse true? I mean, he was manly before, so why wasn’t the tutu role unbelievable so that you couldn’t accept him in that because of the previous “manly” roles?

        Stereotyping ought to work both ways, no?

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  5. This is a great casting choice. I was hoping it was Black Adam and not Shazam who he was going to play when he kept teasing that he was cast in the film. I’m curious to see who they get to play Billy and Capt. Marvel.

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    1. This seems like no-brainer casting. I’m more worried about Billy Batson (as you mention) and Captain Marvel. If Ian McKellan wants to be in yet another movie franchise, his Gandolf isn’t that far off from the old Wizard Shazam, so I’d be trying for that.

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