Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Yeah. Can totally see him as Black Adam

Once again proving that Fast & Furious is the nexus of all action-movie realities, Fast Five enemy and Furious Six frenemy Dwayne Johnson has officially joined the DC Universe.

The wrestler-turned-actor-turned-franchise mercenary tweeted the news himself.:

The Shazam movie will be produced by New Line, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Feel free to speculate wildly that the New Line superhero universe is to the Warner Bros. superhero universe as Vertigo is to DC–or just click here to see what New Line president Toby Emmerich told EW about Shazam. The Rock’s announcement implies that development on the film is proceeding quickly, although it’s still unknown who will be playing the heroic Shazam—or, for that matter, Shazam’s teenaged alter ego, Billy Batson.
In most versions of his origin story, Black Adam is the immortal, power-mad son of an ancient Pharaoh, so if you squint it’s possible to imagine the Shazam film as a spiritual sequel to The Scorpion King. Additionally, it is important to point out that Vin Diesel is affiliated with Marvel, and Dwayne Johnson is affiliated with DC, so their epic fight scene from Fast Five can retroactively be considered the movie version of Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man. Except, like, Black Adam vs. The Amazing Groot this time.

Is this part of the DC setting that is building up to the JL, or another separate one?

I doubt I'll pay much attention to this if it's a standalone, I'm really not a fan of Shazam (I won't call him Captain Marvel, Marvel already have about six of those) from what little I've seen of him.

 Paradigm wrote:
Is this part of the DC setting that is building up to the JL, or another separate one?

I doubt I'll pay much attention to this if it's a standalone, I'm really not a fan of Shazam (I won't call him Captain Marvel, Marvel already have about six of those) from what little I've seen of him.

No idea as yet. Though Chris Nolan/Zach Snyder seem to be trying the JL route with Batman vs Superman.

Yeah, I know the SuperBatVerse is building up to a JL film, what I was wondering is if this is going to be a part of that, like, say, Thor and the Avengers, or separate, like Spidey and The Avengers.

Basically, is it a part of the same series as Man of Steel/SuperBat/JL/Eventual Wonder Woman/Aquaman?

 Paradigm wrote:
Yeah, I know the SuperBatVerse is building up to a JL film, what I was wondering is if this is going to be a part of that, like, say, Thor and the Avengers, or separate, like Spidey and The Avengers.

Basically, is it a part of the same series as Man of Steel/SuperBat/JL/Eventual Wonder Woman/Aquaman?

Doesn't feel that way. Syncopy and Legendary Pictures are doing Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Might be a similar situation to Spidey/Avengers stuff.

Fair enough, different company means probably no interaction. Actually, I'm glad, as I've never been able to take Shazam seriously but have high hopes for the JL movies.

 Paradigm wrote:
Fair enough, different company means probably no interaction. Actually, I'm glad, as I've never been able to take Shazam seriously but have high hopes for the JL movies.

Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment lol.

 angelofvengeance wrote:

 Paradigm wrote:
Fair enough, different company means probably no interaction. Actually, I'm glad, as I've never been able to take Shazam seriously but have high hopes for the JL movies.

Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment lol.

True, but if they can keep to the standards of visuals and script that MoS set, it should be not-quite-Avengers good, which would be fine.

I'm happy for the Rock. I kind of feel bad for him, cause he's not an awful actor. He was rock solid (muahahahaha) in Walking Tall. I always got the sense he wanted to have a serious acting career, but no one was willing to take him seriously.

Here's hoping he can do a stand up job and get a little recognition

 Paradigm wrote:
Yeah, I know the SuperBatVerse is building up to a JL film, what I was wondering is if this is going to be a part of that, like, say, Thor and the Avengers, or separate, like Spidey and The Avengers.

Basically, is it a part of the same series as Man of Steel/SuperBat/JL/Eventual Wonder Woman/Aquaman?

Well, that'll probably depend on whether you want it to be or not. IMO, we probably shouldn't expect Shazam/Captain Marvel to be in the JL film for a variety of reasons, even if he's been an on-and-off member in the comics over the years. So we probably shouldn't expect strong tie-ins to the JL-related films.

And IMO we probably shouldn't expect WB to take the same self-referential, endless-cameo approach to building their universe in the first place. It'll probably be a looser "universe." As the guy who runs Batman-on-Film said (fairly astutely I think), Marvel is in the business of making Marvel movies, while WB is just in the business of making movies. I'm $ure WB has been paying clo$e attention to the $tuff about the MCU that'$ worked $o well, e$pecially in term$ of driving audience$ from one film to the next. But they don't need a tight DCCU the way Marvel needs a tight MCU, and IMO we shouldn't expect Batfleck or Gal Godot to show up in the Sandman film, for instance. WB will probably focus on making a Sandman film that stands on its own, even if it might occupy the same "universe." But ask yourself whether the Ryan Reynolds GL film was in the same crapiverse as Superman Returns. Yes...no...I dunno...maybe...does it matter?

FWIW, this film has been talked about for years, and usually it's been in the context of it being lighter fare. I think the Rock's inclusion points to this also, and note that the writer's past work has been for light-hearted, animated films. This might be the film for those wanting something lighter with DC characters.

 angelofvengeance wrote:

 Paradigm wrote:
Yeah, I know the SuperBatVerse is building up to a JL film, what I was wondering is if this is going to be a part of that, like, say, Thor and the Avengers, or separate, like Spidey and The Avengers.

Basically, is it a part of the same series as Man of Steel/SuperBat/JL/Eventual Wonder Woman/Aquaman?

Doesn't feel that way. Syncopy and Legendary Pictures are doing Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Might be a similar situation to Spidey/Avengers stuff.

The Shazam movie will be produced by New Line, a subsidiary of Warner Bros.

I think it might be part of the DC setting. As it says right there, New Line is part of Warner Brothers.
Okay, I had to find the article in question because there is a quote in regards to the New Line president talking to Entertainment Weekly. Here's what he said:

The Shazam project will be produced by New Line, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. proper, and when New Line president Toby Emmerich gets on the phone to EW, he makes it clear that the film will be a different kind of superhero movie. “It feels to me like Shazam will have a tone unto itself,” he explains. “It’s a DC comic, but it’s not a Justice League character, and it’s not a Marvel comic. The tone and the feeling of the movie will be different from the other range of comic book movies.”

Source

The Spiderman/Avengers+Guardians of the Galaxy/X-Men/Fantastic Four thing is a bit of a different situation as it is spread to three different companies.
Sony has Spiderman, Fox has X-Men and Fantastic Four, Marvel/Disney have Avengers+Guardians of the Galaxy. Sony and Fox have those properties in perpetuity because of some contractual nonsense where as long as they keep making movies they do not lose the license.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 LordofHats wrote:
I'm happy for the Rock. I kind of feel bad for him, cause he's not an awful actor. He was rock solid (muahahahaha) in Walking Tall. I always got the sense he wanted to have a serious acting career, but no one was willing to take him seriously.

Here's hoping he can do a stand up job and get a little recognition

If you have not seen it, I suggest you see "Faster".
It's a movie very much in the vein of "Walking Tall" and Dwayne Johnson does a pretty solid job in it.

I like the choice.

But...

I am curious to know who would make a good Shazam...

It’s a DC comic, but it’s not a Justice League character

Since New 52 he has played a prominent role in the JLA storytelling. His new origin was told in the JLA comic and the JLA animated movie featured him.

 Ahtman wrote:
Since New 52 he has played a prominent role in the JLA storytelling. His new origin was told in the JLA comic and the JLA animated movie featured him.

He probably meant this:

It’s a DC comic, but it’s not a Justice League FILM character

I am interested in this - a lot!

Of course much depends now on who is playing Shazam/Billy.

And I'll be a little disappointed if there's no chance at interaction/crossover between this character and 'the rest' of the DC characters slated to appear on film in the coming years...

 gorgon wrote:

 Ahtman wrote:
Since New 52 he has played a prominent role in the JLA storytelling. His new origin was told in the JLA comic and the JLA animated movie featured him.

He probably meant this:

It’s a DC comic, but it’s not a Justice League FILM character

Or he could have meant:

It's a DC comic, but it's not a commonly known Justice League character.

There's a plethora of different ways that comment could be taken.

Honestly? The Rock was my first pick for Black Adam/Shazam (Either or, honestly). Only movie I've seen of his that I absolutely hated was Doom, but that wasn't entirely his fault.

Though I fear DCs direction may make the movie terrible. No Jokes for the DC.

 Slarg232 wrote:
Honestly? The Rock was my first pick for Black Adam/Shazam (Either or, honestly). Only movie I've seen of his that I absolutely hated was Doom, but that wasn't entirely his fault.

Though I fear DCs direction may make the movie terrible. No Jokes for the DC.

And even in Doom he was pretty good, one of the most standout characters in it.

Doom was such a terrible movie that I can only give any actor in it a B- at best.

He'll take it!

In fact, if SHAZAM ends up with an average of a "B" in reviews, I'll be happy!

 Alpharius wrote:

And I'll be a little disappointed if there's no chance at interaction/crossover between this character and 'the rest' of the DC characters slated to appear on film in the coming years...

Captain Marvel will probably pop up in the JL films when they need Superman to stomp some random superpunk's ass, despite the fact that Marvel should be able to beat the ever loving tar out of Supes.

I thought they were for the most part evenly matched, though everyone thought that Shazam would be the greatest hero of them all at some point.

But don't they say that about the Flash as well?

 Slarg232 wrote:
I thought they were for the most part evenly matched, though everyone thought that Shazam would be the greatest hero of them all at some point.

But don't they say that about the Flash as well?

Shazam's lightning bolts are magic, which is one of the few things Superman is vulnerable against.

But the problem is if the lightning bolts hit Captain Marvel, he changes back to billy.

Also, for what it's work, back in Captain Marvel's heyday, he actually sold more comics than Superman. Of course, this was before he was acquired by DC.

Really, it feels like he's always been treated (very much unfairly) like DC's redheaded step child. Also, his rebooted design sucks.

 Fafnir wrote:
Also, his rebooted design sucks.

Nah, he looks fine.



Black Adam looks good too.

I like the looks of those two. Very nicely done.

And yes, if you ever read the "Kingdom Come" series, you'll see exactly what Shazam's lightning can do to Superman....it's not pretty.

And if I remember correctly, it also shows what Diana (Wonder Woman) can do to Superman with her magical sword.

I don't think Shazam and Black Adam are rockin' the hoodies anymore...

That's criminal in the case of Black Adam; he looks totally BA with that hoodie.

 Alpharius wrote:
I don't think Shazam and Black Adam are rockin' the hoodies anymore...

It is always there, they just sometimes have it up and others not. The real question is whether they will give him pointy ears!