One of the most frequent questions that has popped into my head over the past ten years, ever since the Marvel Universe kicked off and Christopher Nolan changed things with his Batman saga, is a simple one: When will Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson get involved in one of these movies?
That question got an answer last year when Johnson was announced to be taking over the role of Black Adam in the DCU, otherwise known as the DC movie universe. What started out promisingly enough with "Man of Steel" deteriorated into messes like "Batman Versus Superman" and "Justice League" before experiencing a bounce-back in the form of "Wonder Woman," "Aquaman" (to an extent), and last year's "Shazam!"
According to Johnson's Instagram account, which is easily one of the best movie star IG accounts out there, the actor is currently muscling up even more to prepare for the role and the movie, which starts shooting this summer. Here's Johnson's Instragram post from this morning:
For those of you who don't who Black Adam is (I used to belong to that camp), here's a quick rundown that I gathered from a few Google clicks. If you know who Billy Bates/Shazam is, you know he got his powers from that ancient castle and wizard, empowering him to do good with his newfound abilities. Created by C.C. Beck and Otto Binder, Black Adam once had the exact same power, but allowed it to corrupt him and pushed him to break bad. Think of Mark Strong's villain in that movie, but super-sized six levels. That's Black Adam, who was exiled by a previous Shazam hero, but will now return. For a deeper dive into the comic character, check this out and get your geek on.
Johnson's film will most likely cover him starting out as a noble hero, only to turn heel, and then arrive in the modern world as a threat to Zachary Levi's hero. The film is expected to land in theaters in December 2021. Remember, these comic book adaptations take several months to shoot, especially when you factor in all the visual effects finishing, voice dubbing, and extra touches.
What you shouldn't expect is Levi to make a big appearance in this film. This will be Adam's introduction, and an entire film will be required to introduce one of DC Comics' most notable anti-heroes. You don't need to commit a common DC Films mistake and pack too many people into a movie with one name in the title. In the classic words of wine connoisseurs, let it breathe and allow The Rock to slowly set his feet in this world.
A little Rock can go a long way. I would expect the next "Shazam!" film to pit Levi and Johnson against each other, and then possibly for a future team-up film to show them on the same side possibly. Anything can happen. With "Wonder Woman" getting a sequel this summer and the DCU on a good run, I would predict another Justice League-type film to come along in the next few years.
The film is being directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who should be known to movie fans as Liam Neeson's favorite action film tango partner. The pair did four films together, but Collet-Serra just completed "Jungle Cruise" with Johnson and Emily Blunt, so they have some chemistry built up to work from.
The important takeaway is that at long last, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is joining the comic book adaptation universe. Sure, one could make the argument that he's been doing that for many years with the superheroes-in-plain-clothes "Fast & Furious" films-he did swing from the back of a pickup truck while one-handing a helicopter in last year's "Hobbs and Shaw"-but this is the real deal.
If you can smell what DC and Johnson are cooking, you should be pretty excited about Black Adam.
