As fans witnessed the simultaneous development of Shazam! Fury Of The Gods and Black Adam, the assumption on the table was that the movies would set the two characters up to eventually collide on the big screen (an assumption made because the latter is the archnemesis of the former in the comics). This didn't happen – and according to a recent report, it's because of Black Adam star Dwayne Johnson.
The Wrap published a story today saying that the actor made specific efforts in the making of his DC debut to disassociate Black Adam and Shazam in the DC Extended Universe canon, going as far as to veto cameos in Black Adam and Shazam! Fury Of The Gods. Johnson, an active social media user, has not yet released any kind of statement about the report, but the same can't be said of Zachary Levi.
Levi has responded to the story about Shazam and Black Adam on his personal Instagram account via Stories, and you can see a screenshot of his post below:
Zachary Levi took a screenshot of another Instagram user's rundown of the information in the trade report, and in adding a comment to the image, he denies nothing about it. Instead, he merely writes "The truth shall set you free" along with an upside-down smiley face and the "raising hands" emoji.
The trade report says that, among other things, Dwayne Johnson declined the idea of Zachary Levi's Shazam making an appearance in the end credits of Black Adam – instead pushing for the idea of including Henry Cavill's Superman. Additionally, Johnson said no to the idea of the Justice Society characters (who made their debut in Black Adam) cameoing in the end credits of of Shazam! Fury Of The Gods.
Did any of these decisions have any kind of real devastating impact that led to Shazam! Fury Of The Gods' disappointing opening weekend in theaters? Probably not. As I wrote in the CinemaBlend box office column this past Sunday, the substandard numbers are more likely the result of mediocre buzz mixed with the announced reboot plans for the franchise – with the DC Extended Universe morphing into the DC Universe.
It will certainly be news when Dwayne Johnson responds to this morning's reports, so stay tuned on that front. Shazam! Fury Of The Gods is now playing in theaters, and Black Adam is available to watch with a HBO Max subscription. You can learn about everything that is on the way from the franchise on the big screen with our Upcoming DC Movies feature.
