Back in late July, Dwayne Johnson all but confirmed he’d be playing Shazam in an upcoming DC Comics movie for Warner Bros. The quote went like this:
“There’s a character out there that we’re going to announce very soon, that I’m going to play. I’ll just say this, he has the power of Superman, and it’s not Green Lantern, by the way. And believe me, John Stewart, he was a character I wanted to play, but there was already a version of Green Lantern, and so we’ve gone in a different direction. But this character has the power of Superman, he can throw down… Just say the word. That’s all I’m going say.”
The “Just say the word” bit is what people are glomming onto, but now, in an interview with the Associated Press, Johnson says he isn’t sure whether he’d rather play Billy Batson (aka Shazam) or his enemy, Black Adam, seeing how Black Adam is one of his favorite DC characters. The obvious assumption here is Warner Bros. doesn’t want Johnson to play a villain, they’d rather build a franchise around him as a hero.
Either way, Johnson says, “I am putting my heart and soul and my bones into this role.”
The AP adds that Johnson didn’t specify whether his character will show up in Superman v Batman: Dawn of Justice, but I wouldn’t hold my breath expecting that to happen just as much as I fully expect he’ll be playing Shazam, but whatever keeps ’em talking… right?
