Back in August 2014, whenDwayne Johnsonwas in peak “Franchise Viagra” form having just revitalized bothG.I. Joe: RetaliationandFast & Furious 6while also showing off his dramatic chops inMichael Bay’sPain & Gain, the actorsigned on to join the DC movie universe. At that point, Warner Bros. had just barely gotten started and was deep in development onBatman v Superman, but now two years later, Johnson’s Black Adam movie still has yet to come to fruition. Granted he’s a busy guy, but not to fret—Johnson recently took to Facebook to provide an update on his future in the DCEU, teasing a few details from a meeting he recently had with the higher ups at DC Comics.
The tease of “hope, optimism & FUN” is certainly meant to qualm fears that every DC movie will be as joyless asBatman v Superman, and with films likeJustice League,Aquaman, andThe Flashon the horizon, it’ll be interesting to see which of these movies carries the “tonal shifts” that Johnson is teasing. Though, granted, it looks like Johnson was meeting with DC Comics people and not Warner Bros. people, and it’s the latter who actually make the movies.
Black Adam is admittedly a less well-known comics character than the ones DC has tackled in its movies thus far, but he’s a supervillain who regularly clashed with the comics superhero Shazam. Indeed, Johnson was given the choice of playing either Shazam or Black Adam, but he opted to go the villain route.
It’s still unclear when and where this Black Adam movie fits on the schedule, and the film doesn’t even have a director yet. But on Christmas Day, Johnson shared an image of him hanging withHenry Cavill’s Superman, teasing a DC collaboration, so it’s possible we could see a potential Superman/Black Adam movie on the horizon. Or maybe Johnson has a cameo as Black Adam inJustice League?
It’s all speculation at this point, and Johnson’s dance card is mighty full at the moment. He most recently wrappedJumanji, is next set to shootRampage, and is also attached to star inSan Andreas 2. But perhaps the most exciting film on his docket isDoc Savage, writer/directorShane Black’s adaptation of the pulp series which would see Johnson playing one hell of a protagonist for one of the most talented writer/directors working today. Much as fans want to see Johnson join the DCEU, I’ll admit I’m hopingDoc Savagehappens sooner rather than later.
