Why Did Black Adam and Shazam Get Their Own Films Rather Than a Crossover?
DC producers made a tough but well-received decision to give Black Adam and Shazam their own solo movies instead of doing a crossover:
DC producers made the difficult but well-received choice to offer Black Adam and Shazam as their own films rather than a crossover. Dwayne Johnson will join the DCEU with Black Adam, which will be released in theatres next year. He portrays the titular anti-hero from the DC Comics series of the same name. Noah Centineo, Aldis Hodge, Sarah Shahi, Quintess Swindell, and Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate all feature in the highly anticipated thriller. Shazam! has been linked to the character of Black Adam since 2014, when negotiations for Shazam! originally began. Originally, the wrestler-turned-actor was scheduled to play the antagonist in the 2019 film, opposite Zachary Levi’s role. Midway through production, the producers decided to give Johnson’s character a separate picture. As Black Adam nears its theatrical debut, it is primed to shake up the DCEU and become a mega-blockbuster smash.
Hiram Garcia’s exclusive interview with Screen Rant:
In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Black Adam producer Hiram Garcia revealed how DC executives spotted promise in Johnson’s character, prompting them to shift gears and reject the initial crossover idea. According to Garcia, they concluded that Black Adam and Shazam are two completely separate characters, and that presenting both of them in the same film would be insufficient. Garcia also noted that once they decided to do two solo films, everything fell into place. Below is an extract from our conversation with Garcia:
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.
Garcia pointed that It’s been a long road for Black Adam to make its way from the comics to the big screen:
It’s been a long trip for Black Adam to make it from the pages of a comic book to the big screen. Garcia stated that the supervillain/anti-hero “was not a straightforward figure to crack” and that they encountered several barriers in developing his standalone feature. After years of preparation, Johnson will finally make his grand entry into the DCEU. After being imprisoned for 5,000 years, Black Adam’s solo journey will explore the origin tale of how the Egyptian antihero became Shazam’s archenemy. The first teaser trailer for the film revealed Johnson’s character and his amazing skills. It’s worth noting that other DC superheroes, including Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and The Flash, were initially introduced as supporting characters in team-up films before earning their own features. As DC breaks the pattern with Black Adam, it will be interesting to see how their decision will pay off when the feature picture hits theatres in 2022. Its popularity will very certainly lead to Black Adam sequels, spin-offs, and a Black Adam vs. Shazam showdown. Black Adam is shaping up to be worth the wait, thanks to its big-budget production and Johnson’s star power.
Source: screenrant
