Dwayne Johnson's Shazam! Villain Black Adam Is Getting Its Own Spinoff. Yay?

IMAGE VIA THR/JEFF KRAVITZ/FILMMAGIC/DC COMICS

Well, there was always a chance this would happen because it’s The Rock.

According to Deadline, New Line Cinema’s DCU film Shazam! will be splitting into two movies. Dwayne Johnson’s villain/anti-hero Black Adam will have its own movie.

The original idea was him to be the villain in Shazam!, which is a story about a teen boy who can transform himself into a superhero by shouting the word “Shazam!”.

The announcement should come to no surprise after Johnson tweeted and Instagrammed how excited he was about the future of the DC Universe and how well the meeting went.

Had a very cool and strategic meeting with the heads of DC about their entire universe. As a hard core DC fan, to get a real sense of the tonal shifts and developments coming in these future movies has me fired up. Something we, as DC fans have all been waiting for for a very long time. Hope, optimism & FUN. Even when talking about the the most ruthless villain/anti-hero of all time finally coming to life. Prepare yourselves DC Universe. #KneelAtHisFeet #OrGetCrushedByHisBoot #BlackAdam⚡️

A photo posted by therock (@therock) on Jan 11, 2017 at 4:07pm PST

The thing that’s making me and many other people, including fans, scratching our heads are why is Shazam! of all DCU properties getting split into two films and how are they going to get a whole feature film out of Black Adam’s backstory?

Don’t get me wrong, Black Adam has a different but rich backstories, but the one I like is he was chosen as the champion by the council of wizards (“powerful beings that held dominion over all magic in the world”) and they granted him magical powers and abilities and he uses this power to dominate power instead of helping them.

IMAGE VIA DC COMICS

After going to battle against the wizards, he broke free from being imprisoned for thousands of years and wants to conquer the world and will do everything in his power to kill Shazam! (the new chosen champion) and become the true ruler of the world.

“Driven by the need to rule, incredibly arrogant and one of the most powerful beings on the planet, Black Adam lives by a simple creed: kneel at his feet or be crushed by his boot.”

IMAGE VIA DC COMICS

I think this backstory would be beater because you need to see him as the villain in Shazam! and in a future Justice League or Man of Steel film. Also, the last quote can easily sum up how Johnson will play the character and he does use his creed whenever he mentions him on social media.

This film could work if it has a 90-minute runtime and can tell the audience the backstory of not only Black Adam, but the council of wizards and the magical powers.

Then when Shazam! is released we’ll know all the basic stuff and we can simply follow teenager Billy Batson becoming Shazam! and battle Black Adam to save earth from his rule (with a little help from Superman).

IMAGE VIA DC COMICS

However, according to The Hollywood Reporters Borys Kit, the first Shazam! movie could be something different and we could see Black Adam sooner than expected.

The plan is for the first SHAZAM! movie not to have Black Adam as the villain although he would/could appear in one down the road.

— Borys Kit (@Borys_Kit) 19 January 2017

Also, don't rule out an appearance by Black Adam in AQUAMAN as a tease. Not saying it will happen, just don't rule it out.

— Borys Kit (@Borys_Kit) 19 January 2017

Again this story is a real head scratcher. I don’t mind Jon Berg, Geoff Johns and co doing something different with the DCU, but at least let us know what’s happening with the solo films of the core Justice League members. 

Like The Flash getting a director/new release date, if the solo Cyborg film is turning into more of a Teen Titans film, but I’m guessing we’ll get a better idea when Justice League is released and how the audience reacts to him, and if we’re getting a Man of Steel 2.

These questions still need to be answered and hopefully soon.