Black Adam, the upcoming DCEU movie starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, is hurtling into theatres faster than The Flash— and in a new interview with Vanity Fair, Dwayne explains some of the key differences between his character, Shazam, and Superman.
“When the first draft of the movie came to us, it was a combination of Black Adam and Shazam: Two origin stories in one movie,” Johnson recalled. “Now that was the goal – so it wasn’t a complete surprise.” However, the Fast and Furious star said he was concerned that “having two origin stories converge into one movie” would ultimately do Black Adam “an incredible disservice.”
“It would’ve been fine for Shazam having two origin stories converge in one movie, but not good for Black Adam,” Johnson said. So, the action movie actor opened up to studio executives about why he thought separating the two characters into different movies was ultimately the best move.
“I said, ‘I have to share my thoughts here. It’s very unpopular…’ because everybody thought, ‘Hey, this script is great, let’s go make this movie’,” he recalled. “I said, ‘I really think that you should make Shazam!, make that movie on its own in the tone that you want. And I think we should separate this as well’.” Shazam ended up being released in 2019, while Black Adam, which is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, is currently in post-production.
Johnson continued, “When you pull Black Adam out of the pantheon of superheroes in the DC Universe, he is blessed with these incredible superpowers from the gods that rival Superman. The difference is, well, a few things. Number one, Superman’s greatest weakness is magic, and one of Black Adam’s greatest superpowers is magic.” Another key difference between the Man of Steel and Black Adam is, according to Johnson, their “unique code of ethics.” He noted that while Superman has a strict ‘no kill’ rule, Black Adam has a more… liberal approach.
“Black Adam has a unique code of ethics too,” he said. “He will not hesitate – and I like to have a little fun when I’m explaining this – to rip somebody in half. Literally, he’ll grab someone by the neck and by the thigh and then rip them up, tear them apart.”
Black Adam will be released in theatres on October 21, 2022. To prepare for the thriller movie, check out Shazam! on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video, which you can get a free trial for here.