A new report claims Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam may have actually changed the hierarchy of power in the DC universe as he claimed it would, but not in the way it was originally attended. Instead, he may have blown it up completely, whether he planned to or not.
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The Wrap claims that Johnson, star and producer of Black Adam, privately “vetoed a planned post-credits scene in Black Adam, which would have seen Shazam recruited by Aldis Hodge’s Hawkman, and other costumed heroes, into the Justice Society of America.” Such a scene would have crucially linked that film to the next one on DC’s plate, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, which is now in theaters.
Instead, Johnson wanted his character to change the “hierarchy of power in the DC universe” and so he went above and beyond for his character to meet not his comic book rival, but a much more popular, iconic character in Superman, played by Henry Cavill. The move was adored by fans, but not so much by the higher-ups at DC—who quickly moved to announce that despite the implications of the Black Adam scene, Cavill would not be returning.
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io9 reached out to Warner Bros. for possible comment or clarification on this and will update the story if or when we hear back. But, if you’ve seen Shazam: Fury of the Gods, and specifically its end-credit scene which bears a more than striking similarity to the one described above, you know the evidence is there.
There’s a lot to consider here (especially when you go back and remember that it was Johnson who pushed for a Black Adam solo movie in the first place), but one thing stands out above the rest. It’s the possibility that with this one move, Johnson may have unintentionally (or intentionally) dismantled the DC Universe moving ahead, and done a huge disservice to Shazam: Fury of the Gods well before it was released. By vetoing a connection to Shazam, a character that was returning to theaters for sure, and teasing the return of Superman, who was not, he may been too focused on a film that was purely hypothetical (Black Adam vs. Superman) instead of being a team player and teeing up what DC already had planned for the next year, even before the new team of James Gunn and Peter Safran came in.
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Now, would Shazam’s appearance in Black Adam, a film that was not a huge success, have improved the reception of Shazam: Fury of the Gods? Probably not. But you have to guess it wouldn’t have hurt it. You can read more about this over on the Wrap (though you’ll need to be a subscriber) but, below, tell us your best “What if?” scenario: if Black Adam ended with the JSA recruiting Shazam, what happens next?
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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