Dwayne Johnson has announced, via Instagram, that he will star in the Warner Bros/DC Entertainment Shazam! spin-off Black Adam, which has an official release date of December 22, 2021.
Though Adam was initially a villain in the classic Captain Marvel comics he has become an anti-hero in the latter decades of DC comic. Johnson expressed his affinity for that anti-hero spirit in his post. "I realized that Superman was the hero, I could never be. I was too rebellious. Too rambunctious. Too resistant to convention and authority," the film star wrote. "Despite my troubles, I was still a good kid with a good heart - I just liked to do things my way. Now, years later as a man, with the same DNA I had as a kid - my superhero dreams have come true."
Johnson has long been attached to WB's Shazam! franchise. At times he was eyed as the superhero lead, but quickly found a better fit with Black Adam. When the first film was released earlier this year, Black Adam was not included, but Johnson was involved as an executive producer. A deleted scene in the movie even tips the character's existence, as the six-member Marvel family finds an extra throne in the sorcerer's lair.
