Shazam! is an incredibly fun, smart, family-friendly, adult-snarky superhero movie – and for those reasons and many more, it’s being praised as the best DCEU film yet, and exactly the kind of movie DC should have been making all along.
So of course there will be a sequel – and like illustrious franchises before it, from The Fast & The Furious to Jumanji, it has the benefit of the only thing that has never made a film worse:
The People’s Eyebrow himself: Dwayne “Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson” Johnson.
People who’ve been hanging out for these movies basically their entire lives will already know that Mr Rock was originally on board to be in the Shazam currently smashing the box office, either as the supernaturally swole hero himself… or his nemesis, iconic supervillain Black Adam.
If Shazam! gets a sequel, I´d love it to be a more serious epic. Keep the heart of it, but go with bigger scale and grander story. Have Black Adam as villain and make it a visually groundbreaking clash of titans. Epic in every sense of the word. #Shazam #DCComics #DCEU #BlackAdam pic.twitter.com/EvjRdpWKuu
— Paul (@pali_mat) April 5, 2019
For those new to the franchise, Black Adam is to Shazam as Lex Luthor is to Superman, or the Joker to Batman: he’s the big one, an all-time bad guy with enormous humanity and mythology. It’s a lot to bring to a narrative designed for new audiences and devoted fans alike.
Somehow Johnson managed to stay involved through the movie’s long stint in development hell, was given his own solo Black Adam film even before DC cast Zachary Levi as a Shazam who’s very charming but extremely Not A Former Professional Wrestler, and held on through the decision not to introduce Black Adam in the first film.
But yes: he’s confirmed he will not only be Black Adam in the second Shazam film, but also in his own standalone movie, and one of these will start filming within the year.
In fact, he also confirmed it was his idea to split the origin stories of Shazam and of Black Adam into two films, instead of cramming them into one.
The Rock confirms it was his idea to split #Shazam and Black Adam's origins into two movies, teases next film's production to start within a year, and issues a warning to the DC heroes — 'They're all getting their asses kicked when I play Black Adam'
(via @TheRock | Instagram) pic.twitter.com/rsh81TMs0g
— Fandom (@getFANDOM) April 8, 2019
He takes care to congratulate Levi and the Shazam team, but the message is clear: he may have saved the best DCEU film from being an overstuffed mess.
See? The Rock makes every film better, even by not being in it.
The Rock is one of my favorite actors and Black Adam is one of my favorite DC characters. Let's do this. pic.twitter.com/qoLPdjnbKm
— eligamerman (@eligamerman) April 8, 2019
Dwayne talking about Black Adam always improves my mood! pic.twitter.com/S048BUbJiL
— Sam (@SamParkerMetal) April 7, 2019