Why Black Adam & Shazam Got Solo Movies Instead of a Crossover
EXCLUSIVE: Black Adam producer Hiram Garcia shares why making a solo Black Adam movie was the most exciting idea for the DCEU.
DC producers made a tough but well-received decision to give Black Adam and Shazam their solo movies instead of doing a crossover. Dwayne Johnson will make his way into the DCEU with Black Adam, which is set to hit theaters next year. He plays the titular anti-hero based on the DC Comics of the same name. Also starring in the highly anticipated film are Noah Centineo, Aldis Hodge, Sarah Shahi, Quintess Swindell, and Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate.
Johnson has been attached to his Black Adam role since 2014 when talks for Shazam! first began. Initially, the wrestler-turned-actor was supposed to portray the villain against Zachary Levi's character in the 2019 movie. Midway into the film's development, producers decided to give Johnson's character a standalone film instead. As Black Adam approaches its theatrical release, it is poised to shake things up in the entire DCEU and become a mega-blockbuster hit.
In Screen Rant's exclusive interview with Black Adam producer Hiram Garcia, he shared how DC execs saw potential in Johnson's character that led them to change gears and scrapp the original crossover project. According to Garcia, they realized that Black Adam and Shazam are totally different characters so introducing both of them in one movie will simply not do them justice. Garcia also stated that once they made the decision to make two solo movies, things finally made sense. Read an excerpt of our interview with Garcia below:
SR: Damn. Dwayne's in everything. As things ramp up for Black Adam, I have to wonder because he's been attached to that since, I think 2014. So it must be really exciting to get to this point. What does that feel like? Because it's like, "Oh, I've seen footage. It's here. It's happening."
Garcia: Yeah. I remember, it's so funny. I always like to keep my finger on the pulse. And so many fans are always like, "This movie's never happening. He's been talking about it forever." But from the moment he walked on set in that costume to finally be there after so many years of development. And the reason for that was it's not a simple character to crack and it's not an easy movie to tell. And we went through so many iterations. But I think once we realized we wanted to separate Black Adam and Shazam where we were trying to introduce both of them in the same movie and obviously realizing not only are both characters totally so different I think in the kind of story you want to tell around them, but they're just both require so much space in terms of wanting to really introduce them to the world.
And once we were able to separate them, things really started to pick up. So the years of development paid off and to get the team we have now. And again, that first moment he walked on set as Black Adam was one of those things I'll always forget. And for him too, and I just, I know him so well and to see how fired up he was to just be in that costume. And our director made the coolest camera test where there's this incredible music playing. The whole set felt it when this happened, it was a real moment. So we're thrilled. We're grinding away on it. I'm excited for you to see it. I think you're going to have a lot fun with it, and he's a very different character that we haven't really seen in the DC world yet. So it's exciting.
It's been a long road for Black Adam to make its way from the comics to the big screen. Garcia pointed out that the supervillain/anti-hero "was not a simple character to crack" and they hit multiple roadblocks while conceptualizing his solo film. After many years of preparing for the role, Johnson will finally make his epic entrance into the DCEU. Black Adam's solo adventure will tell the origin story of how the Egyptian antihero will become the archenemy of Shazam after being imprisoned for 5,000 years. The movie's first teaser trailer gave a peek into Johnson's character and its thrilling superpowers.
It's interesting to note that other DC superheroes like Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and The Flash were first introduced as side characters in team-up films before getting their solo movies. As DC breaks the pattern for Black Adam, it's exciting to see how their move will pay off once the feature film hits the big screen in 2022. Its success will no doubt carry over to Black Adam sequels, spin-offs, and a Black Adam vs. Shazam face-off. With its big-budget production and Johnson's star power, Black Adam is shaping up to be worth the wait.