Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Dwayne Johnson says ‘unpopular’ complaint he made to Warner Bros led to Black Adam

‘I just knew in my gut we can’t make this movie,’ Johnson said

Jacob Stolworthy
Thursday 18 August 2022 03:43 EDT
Comments
Black Adam trailer

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Dwayne Johnson has said he had to go against the grain in a big way after joining the DC universe.

Johnson was cast as DC character Black Adam, a villain that is set to face Zachary Levi’s Shazam in a forthcoming film.

Shazam had a standalone film, released in 201. Black Adam was originally set to be introduced in the same film – something that Johnson didn’t like.

“When the first draft of the movie came to us, it was a combination of Black Adam and Shazam: two origin stories in one movie,” the actor told Vanity Fair.

“Now that was the goal, so it wasn’t a complete surprise,” Johnson continued. “But when I read that, I just knew in my gut, we can’t make this movie like this. We would be doing Black Adam an incredible disservice.

“It would’ve been fine for Shazam having two origin stories converge in one movie, but not good for Black Adam.”

Johnson took matters into his own hand and led the charge at Warner Bros in the hopes of splitting the films into two.

However, he said it was tough as everyone liked the original screenplay.

“I said, ‘I have to share my thoughts here. It’s very unpopular’ because everybody thought, ‘Hey, this script is great, let’s go make this movie.’ I said, ‘I really think that you should make Shazam!, make that movie on its own in the tone that you want. And I think we should separate this as well.’”

Ultimately, he succeeded in his efforts, and Black Adam will be released later this year alongside Shazam! sequel, Fury of the Gods.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in