Actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns have now confirmed via twitter that Johnson is set to play Black Adam in an upcoming Shazam movie.
Unlike previous incarnations of the character in the comics, this version of the character will be more of an “antihero” seeking to clear his name rather than a villain, reflecting recent iterations of the character as written by Johns. This suggests that perhaps Black Adam will not be the only antagonist, or the main one.
Adam gets his powers from the same source as Shazam does and is the ruler of a small, Middle Eastern nation called Khandaq. Khandaq will appear in upcoming issues of Arrow 2.5, a digital comic book series, as well as already being referenced to in previous episodes of Arrow, including the episode that introduced the Suicide Squad. It will also be referenced in an upcoming episode of  The Flash. If the film comes to fruition, like previous DC movies, it will be in an entirely separate universe than that of both TV series.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson hasn’t been shy about hinting at the possibility of playing a role in the movie, and this isn’t the first DC project the actor has been attached to, including a film based on Lobo.
While Warner Bros. have yet to officially confirm production on the film, it is expected that Shazam will be one of the studio’s 2016 or 2017 theater releases. No other casting announcements have been made, meaning that fans will just have to wait and see who will be playing the role of Billy Batson or what other characters will make an appearance in the movie. Darren Lemke is set to write the script.
Sources: Variety, Comic Book Movie
