The Rock Takes Responsibility For Delayed Black Adam Appearance

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson spoke to The New York Times recently to discuss the development of Black Adam (via Wrestling Inc). Johnson plays the eponymous supervillain in the film and admits that his choice of the role (rather than claiming the role of Shazam that was eventually filled by Zachary Levi) contributed to delays in the project’s production.

“I did have that option when I started discussing this with Warner Bros. almost 15 years ago,” Johnson stated. “I appreciated the mythology behind the characters and their connection. But I always knew in my heart that I was Black Adam.”

Johnson also discussed his influence on the films being developed individually, rather than trying to encompass both characters’ stories in a single production. He explained some details about having read the original script in advance of the Shazam! film. “It was convoluted and it wasn’t serving them both properly. I made a call to the people running Warner Bros. at the time and I said we should separate these two so they could tell their own origin stories, and that’s what we did.”

Johnson also acknowledged that his suggestion resulted in a significant delay before his role finally reached the screen. “It worked against me in the moment, because they went with ‘Shazam!’ first. I said, ‘OK, not a problem,'” he concluded.