A 'Rock' To The System: Is Dwayne Johnson Out Of The 'Shazam!' Movie?

The superhero gloves are off and the cinematic universes are going head to head in the great box office battle. As DC tries to compete with Marvel more than ever, and the DCEU is expanding its slate at an exponential rate, the comic book powerhouse certainly has some catching up to do. With the MCU currently standing at 16 films and the DCEU at just four, #GeoffJohns is going full steam ahead with heroes beyond the likes of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

As New Line Cinema fast-tracks #Shazam into production — aiming for an early 2018 start date — we finally have some news on what to expect when Captain Marvel finally takes to cinemas. However, there is now a worrying rumor that Billy Batson won't be going up against his most iconic villain in his own movie, and that #DwayneJohnson's Black Adam won't appear in the feature. Popular rumor hound Umberto Gonzalez revealed that Johnson will not be putting on his Black Adam suit (just yet):

Gonzalez also revealed that when he broke the news that Lights Out director David F. Sandberg would helm Shazam!, he was instructed to “take off Dwayne in the report.”

I don't know him from Adam.

Given that Johnson has been attached to the project since its inception back in the late '00s, it is certainly a puzzling state of affairs. However, with the actor still possibly heading for his own Black Adam standalone movie, you can see why the #DCEU may be taking these steps to differentiate the two characters. That being said, there is still a big question mark on whether Shazam and Black Adam are popular enough to warrant a film of their own each.

Johnson seemed suitably pumped to be playing Black Adam, but with a full slate, including Rampage and Disney's Jungle Cruise, it is hard to see where he could possibly find the time in the near future. There is still no word on whether Johnson has cut ties with the role completely, but expect it all to become clearer during the Hall H presentation at Comic-Con later this month.

Either way, Shazam! is set to start work in February 2018 and is pencilled in for a 2020 release date — over a year after its original release. With no official casting, but Armie Hammer still rumored for the role as the titular lead, this one is a dangerous juggling act for an already shaky DCEU. Hoping to move on from the mistakes of its formative years (*cough* Suicide Squad *cough*), the DCEU is concentrating on a diverse roster of films like Nightwing, Batgirl, and the aforementioned Shazam!. However, with a movie that has been in the pipeline for over a decade, maybe Johnson just shouldn't go back to black (Adam).