Dwayne Johnson raised massive headlines when he promised to change the DC hierarchy with Black Adam in 2022. The WWE star hoped to introduce a new chapter and improve the condition of the failing DCEU. Unfortunately, the film was a disaster at the box office and the plans fell apart.
The appearance of Henry Cavill’s Superman in Black Adam‘s post-credits scene was one of the biggest surprises in the film. Unfortunately, it could not save the film from its biggest drawbacks. However, during the promotional tour of Black Adam, a fan theory hinted that letting the character fight against Shazam could have saved the film.
Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam should have gone against Shazam for more success
Before the release of Black Adam, many statements by Dwayne Johnson raised curiosity about the film. He suggested that the film would be badass in approach and start a bright new DCEU chapter. But Teth Adam had always been Shazam’s arch-nemesis. Johnson’s plan of establishing a big fight between Superman and Black Adam first did not make sense to many fans.
We have some of the coolest action scenes between Black Adam and Shazam in the comics and animation. Initially, there were plans to introduce Johnson’s supervillain with Zachary Levi in the 2019 Shazam! movie but the Rampage star urged the makers for a different film on Teth Adam.
During the release of Black Adam, the cast discussed several fan theories in an interview with Vanity Fair. One of the popular theories suggested that Black Adam might go full villain mode, kill the Justice Society of America, and get involved in a nasty brawl against Shazam.
Okay, I have a crazy theory. Hear me out, in Black Adam, I believe he’s going to kill off JSA and choose to become a villain leading to Shazam getting involved!
Recently, a DC enthusiast @Gotham Chief posted this theory on X and captioned “Remember when a random Reddit comment had a better plot than the actual Black Adam film“. Many fans also came forward to agree with the theory in the comments.
Dwayne Johnson could have appeared in a more badass avatar if he could appear as a menacing foe against Zachary Levi’s Shazam. It might have been a massive hit among the ardent comic book lovers. Henry Cavill‘s cameo ultimately got us nowhere as the film was a critical and commercial mess.
Shazam 2 director did not think a Black Adam vs Shazam would have been interesting
The first Shazam! film released in 2019 was appreciated by the worldwide fans. But the sequel was released at a time when James Gunn and Peter Safran were planning for a franchise reboot by the name of DCU. On top of that, it also received mixed responses from critics and became a huge box-office failure.
Similar to the Black Adam, the DC fans also wanted the makers to establish an on-screen connection between Teth Adam and Shazam in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. However, the director of Shazam 2 David F. Sandberg had a unique opinion during a chat with The Hollywood Reporter.
The thing about Black Adam is that he has the same powers as Shazam, and we did that in the first movie where we gave Sivana [Mark Strong] the same power. So I don’t think the fight itself would’ve been super interesting, but I do think it’s a missed opportunity. What makes the most sense is to have them fight each other, so it’s money left on the table. But it’s how it is.
It is disappointing how both Shazam and Black Adam could not do anything significant in their DCEU run. Precisely, Warner Bros’ mishandling of the IP affected the universe badly. While the fans are hopeful about James Gunn’s upcoming DCU, it is very doubtful if Zachary Levi and Dwayne Johnson can reprise their roles.
Black Adam and Shazam 2 can be streamed on Max.
