Dwayne Johnson Phone Call Made DC’s Black Adam Solo Movie Happen

All it took was one phone call from Dwayne Johnson to convince producers that both Black Adam and Shazam Needed dedicated solo origin movies.

Despite originally being scheduled to make his DCEU debut in 2019’s Shazam, all it took was one phone call from Black Adam star Dwayne Johnson to ensure the character got his own proper solo origin movie instead. Johnson has been attached to play Black Adam since 2014, and after nearly a decade, his take on the character is finally set to hit the big screen. He’ll star as the DC Comics antihero alongside Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, Bodhi Sabongui, and Pierce Brosnan.

When Shazam! was being developed, it was actually going to act as an origin story not just for Zachary Levi’s titular hero, but also for Johnson’s antihero. However, after multiple rewrites and years of delays, the film’s producers were still having trouble finding a story that would do both characters justice while still maintaining a cohesive script. Eventually, it seems Johnson decided to make an executive decision.

Related: How Black Adam Returns From The Dead & Becomes A God

According to comicbook.com, Johnson came to the conclusion that the only way to properly introduce both of these classic comic book characters would be to divorce their origin stories and give each one a movie of their own. In what seems to have been a decisive call to producers Hiram Garcia and Beau Flynn, Johnson explained how he thought the franchise should proceed. Read how it played out below:

“The original plan, maybe five or six years ago I think, was to tell the two origin stories of Shazam! and Black Adam in the same movie. That’s what we had worked on. The script was delivered. When we all read the script, I immediately felt like, ‘We have to separate these two movies. We have to honor Shazam! and that origin story and what that is and what that can be for the fans and then we also have to tell our story, too, as well.’ I think in separating them, with the majority of the world not knowing who Black Adam if you weren’t a serious comic book fan, it was important I think to separate them and tell each story respectively.”

“I got a phone call very early in the morning from Dwayne Johnson which is always very intimidating,” Flynn said. “He called Hiram and I, he just said, ‘Brothers,” he said, “We’re gonna make Black Adam. We’re gonna tell this story. It’s so big and so important,’ and that was it.”

Johnson’s concerns were probably valid ones. Besides the two separate origin movies providing more time to explore each character, comic book movies have historically run into issues when too many heroes, villains, and subplots get forced into one film, oftentimes leading to bloated and disjointed results. And while Shazam! was a fun, whimsical adventure for the most part, Black Adam looks to be much darker tonally. It makes more sense to establish both characters’ styles individually than try to balance the two in the first outing.

As one of the biggest names in Hollywood, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Johnson holds as much sway as he does. And when considering that Black Adam has been somewhat of a pet project for Johnson for the better part of a decade, it’s no wonder that he’s going to want to be protective of the character and insist on a proper introduction. His being so invested in Black Adam is an encouraging sign that Johnson is truly aiming to give audiences the best version of the character’s origin story as he can. Hopefully, the long wait will have been worth it for Johnson and audiences alike.

Next: Is Black Adam Immortal? Can Anything Kill The Rock’s DC Antihero?

Source: comicbook.com

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