DC Films Gives Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam His Own Movie

As Warner Bros. continues to adjust and adapt their upcoming slate of superhero movies, it seems they’re pivoting toward spinoffs pretty hard. DC Films came out of the gate as the anti-Marvel, cramming boatloads of characters into “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice” and “Suicide Squad,” but are now turning the other way. Ben Affleck is brewing “The Batman,” Margot Robbie is powering the Harley Quinn-led “Gotham City Sirens,” and now WB and DC want to make sure they are maximizing their use of one of the biggest stars on the planet.

READ MORE: How Warner Bros. Turned The DC Movie Universe Into A Franchise Problem Child

More than two years ago, Dwayne Johnson confirmed he’d be playing villain Black Adam in “Shazam!” Frankly, very little has been heard about that movie since, but it remains in development, and WB and DC are making things a bit more intriguing: They’ve decided to start working on a “Black Adam” movie as well. It’s all very early, but Black Adam will apparently be an anti-hero in his standalone movie, but that’s about all the details for now.

As for “Shazam!,” Henry Gayden (“Earth To Echo“) is reportedly working on the script, which will need to be reworked to factor Black Adam getting his own movie. Villains are always a tricky thing because they tend to overshadow the hero, and “Shazam!” will have an interesting challenge with one of the biggest stars in the world in the bad-boy role, and it’ll be a tough balance to get right if the titular hero is supposed to save the day. We have our reservations, particularly given DC Films’ track record of late, but we’ll see what they can pull off. [THR]