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News
The Rock to Play Black Adam in Shazam!
The fans have spoken.
by Fred Topel | December 12, 2007
Discuss Article
With a superstar like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson attached to the comic book movie Shazam!, those unfamiliar with the superhero might assume Johnson's playing the title role. However, as The Rock himself is quick to explain, the comic's fans really wanted him to play supporting character Black Adam. Shazam is just the wizard who grants powers to heroes like Captain Marvel -- Black Adam is a character who doesn't always use those powers for good.

"They first approached me about playing Captain Marvel, and they also said, 'And there's also this interesting character too called Black Adam,'" said Johnson. "This was about a year ago, while we were on the set of Get Smart. I said, 'Oh, okay, great.' We went down to Comic Con to show the trailer for Get Smart and down there, talking to all the fans, they were like, 'You should really look into Black Adam.' So I said to a writer or journalist, 'Well, right now I think it's just up to the fans. They should just let me know.' And they let me know in spades: 'You should be Black Adam!' Great, and then that dictated to the studio, to the director."

Johnson is currently in development on Witch Mountain, but the Shazam project is a possibility for his next project. "I just met with [director] Pete Segal. We had a great meeting on Shazam!, and we're just waiting for John August to hand in another draft -- which probably will be handed in months from now, after the strike."

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Comments (1-20 of 20 posts) | Reply
walkingdead09
walkingdead09 writes:
on Dec 12 2007 06:37 AM

if ya smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllallalalalalalallalallalaal......man the rock needs to do something to redeem himself. I like him better as a supporting character.

(Reply to this)
Sora Freak
Sora Freak writes:
on Dec 12 2007 06:48 AM

This is good news, he can definitely pull off Black Adam

(Reply to this)
TrisTan2007
TrisTan2007 writes:
on Dec 12 2007 06:48 AM

Rock! Just make another "Run Down". I wanna see you beat the heck out of a football team in the bar again. I wanna see you shoot the bad guys with two rifles. You could've been another Arnold. But the kind of movies you are doing, it seems like you are going to become another Dolph Lundgren.

(Reply to this)
blank blank
blank blank writes:
on Dec 12 2007 07:24 AM

captain marvel is incredibly difficult to bring to the screen... i have zero faith in this project. nothing against the rock though.

(Reply to this)
PlanBFromOuterSpace
PlanBFromOuterSpace writes:
on Dec 12 2007 08:41 AM

Wasn't this announced about a month ago? I know the "But which role will he take?" talk has been around longer than that.

Anyway, I liked Rundown too, but it didn't really make a lot of money. Studios don't like that. Good for him for trying different things and having fun with it. While Gameplan isn't my kind of movie, I'm glad it did well and that it showed more of Rock's personality. Get Smart should be a good fit for him, and now I'm more interested in a Shazam movie than I would have been before.


(Reply to this)
Dark Knight jr.
Dark Knight jr. writes:
on Dec 12 2007 08:41 AM

Rock would physically fit Black Adam more than he would Captain Marvel. I don't have a butt-load of enthusiasm for this potential project, but I hope it goes well... I can imagine Rock playin' his role good, but I can't imagine Captain Marvel regularly bein' a kid, then transforming by sayin' that simple word. It's hard to look at in a "real-life" sense. Either way, best luck to 'em.

(Reply to this)
Kollikodon
Kollikodon writes:
on Dec 12 2007 09:18 AM

hmm... waiting for Aquaman: the Movie~

(Reply to this)
asudevil1
asudevil1 writes:
on Dec 12 2007 09:38 AM

DC does it again, ruins another character.

(Reply to this)
thereign
thereign writes:
on Dec 12 2007 09:50 AM

I think it's really cool that the Rock(and henceforth the production company) listened to fans as to which role he should take. If only more studios did likewise, perhaps we wouldn't get crap like The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising and Dragon Wars thrown at us so often.

(Reply to this)
dahluzz
dahluzz writes:
on Dec 12 2007 10:44 AM

In reply to this comment (#1350612)
I still can't believe that the title "Dragons Wars: D War" was actually put on the film. that had to be approved by so many people that it makes my brain hurt. It's not like there were A, B and C war. the D in 'D War' stood for Dragon Wars! It's like a translation error that no one ever stopped to question. Officially the most redundant subtitle of all time.

(Reply to this)
Bardego
Bardego writes:
on Dec 12 2007 10:58 AM

Uh, okay. Why not? Dwane "The Rock" Johnson hasn't played a villain since The Mummy Returns, so this'll be a welcome change for him.

(Reply to this)
Racer Z
Racer Z writes:
on Dec 12 2007 11:37 AM

Actually, I've always thought that The Rock would make a great Captain Marvel, but Black Adam is cool too. It's going to make it that much harder to find the right Captain Marvel though.

(Reply to this)
Bigbrother
Bigbrother writes:
on Dec 12 2007 12:39 PM

In reply to this comment (#1350830)
That's what I was thinking too. Who're you going to find who can act and be physically believable as someone who could beat up The Rock?

(Reply to this)
punktuate
punktuate writes:
on Dec 12 2007 02:54 PM

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!! rock would rule for this part

(Reply to this)
thereign
thereign writes:
on Dec 12 2007 03:30 PM

Racer Z & Big Brother: I absolutely agree. It's going to be really hard to find someone as physically imposing as The Rock, who can actually act. Let's hope the casting doesn't suddenly go askew and they go for someone like Tyler Mane.

And to Blank Blank: Yeah, Cap'n Marvel is difficult to translate to screen...but if you can ever get ahold of the Republic Pictures '40's serial, do so. That was a fairly faithful and believable translation. And even though the flying effects were primative(for that time), they still hold up pretty well. Also, it's interesting that the Captain Marvel of that era doesn't hesitate for an instant to KILL his opponents in battle(it was a time of war, after all)...

Trivia moment: In the '40's serial, the actor playing Marvel(Tom Tyler) wore a bullet-proof vest underneath the costume(you can sometimes see the outline), because REAL bullets were used to acquire the proper bounce-off effect! There's a scene(caught on film and IN the movie) where someone shoots a bullet, and you can see it JUST missing the actor's face! Credit Tom Tyler for having real Speed of Mercury reflexes, because he somehow moves his face just enough, then goes right back into character!

Favorite Capt. Marvelism: "TALK! Or I'll...!"


(Reply to this)
Y4USay
Y4USay writes:
on Dec 12 2007 04:44 PM

In reply to this comment (#1350222)
I kind of agree there. The Rundown was so ****ing awesome, him whooping some *** with a cool character. What's up Dwayne? You think you're a ****ing thespian and taking it way too seriously, so get back to basics. There's a void that needs to be filled.

(Reply to this)
blinkybrown
blinkybrown writes:
on Dec 12 2007 08:20 PM

I actually think it's a good move on his part to play different roles. Not every role is a great one, but he obviously doesn't want to just do action, so he's making that happen (and has been quite successful at it, too.) He was pretty good in Get Smart (saw a screening of it...pretty funny.) And who turns down Disney movies? Despite how poor they may turn out to be. No one. He'll do more action/comedies, I'm sure, but give the guy a break. Let him have some fun in his career.

(Reply to this)
DIABLUSX
DIABLUSX writes:
on Dec 13 2007 04:20 AM

The movie should open with Black Adam. It should show how he came before todays Captain Marvel and his form of justice. It should also end like it did with WW3 and his power word being changed from SHAZAM.

(Reply to this)
Phobiabuzz
Phobiabuzz writes:
on Dec 14 2007 07:54 AM

yeah i think the rock is great for this part

(Reply to this)
bd187
bd187 writes:
on Jan 03 2008 01:58 PM

In reply to this comment (#1350675)
Lets not forget the turnaround at the end of DOOM


(Reply to this)
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