Earlier today, Dwayne Johnson confirmed his casting as villain Black Adam in New Line and Warner Bros. upcoming
Shazam, based on DC Comics superhero Billy Batson/Captain Marvel/Shazam. No other filmmakers or cast members have been announced, although Variety is reporting Darren Lemke (
Jack the Giant Slayer,
Turbo,
Shrek Forever After) is set to script the film.
Shazam is expected to follow the highly anticipated
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, due on March 25, 2016, and possibly the as yet un-dated
JLA.
Toby Emmerich, President and COO of New Line said, "we Love Dwayne and have had nothing but success with him over the years. When I look at Dwayne both off screen and on screen, he is such a larger than life character and it just made perfect sense to me that we put him in a DC comic movie. You look at these comic book characters and they have this certain swag and charisma that Dwayne carries with him where ever he is so that's why this always made sense."
In a separate interview with EW, Emmerich commented, "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." Adding, "It feels to me like
Shazam will have a tone unto itself... It will have a sense of fun and a sense of humor. But the stakes have to be real... The villain in superhero movies is often, I think, what makes the movie. And I thought Dwayne's take on the character, and the way that he saw Black Adam, was really compelling and fun."
Johnson revealed his casting via a tweet on his personal Twitter account: