Dwayne Johnson Says Black Adam Could Film in 2019

Now that the Shazam! movie is midway through filming, many fans are wondering when Dwayne Johnson’s promised Black Adam movie followup is coming from Warner Bros. and New Line. Yahoo! has a new quote from Johnson in which he predicts that filming on the solo villain movie could fit into his very busy dance card sometime next year.

“The script came in, it’s great, we’re working on it,” Johnson said of Black Adam. “If things come together in the way we anticipate them coming together, that feels like a 2019 movie… It’s this phenomenal opportunity for us to nail the tone and make sure he’s badass. Also, we have intrinsic DNA tied to a lot of other properties in DC.”

Johnson previously teased “a really cool surprise in terms of where we will see Black Adam being introduced.” Some speculated this first appearance could come in the form of an extended cameo in Suicide Squad 2, which will go before cameras in October of 2018 under the direction of Gavin O’Connor (The Accountant).

Undateable creator Adam Sztykiel is currently writing the Black Adam solo film. Adam was originally part of the Shazam! film before they were separated into two projects. Johnson has been attached to the role in some capacity for nearly ten years and though it now seems to be moving along, the project is still without a director. The current plans for the project are for Black Adam to not appear in the upcoming Shazam! movie at all, though a previous report indicated there could be a teaser for the character as early as next year’s Aquaman.

Originally Teth-Adam of Kahndaq, Black Adam first appeared in Marvel Family #1 in 1945 and has gone on to be both a villain and an anti-hero throughout his history. The character has powers comparable to that of Shazam, including flight, strength, agility, lightning manipulation, as well as magic.

The Shazam! movie is described as follows:

We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s (Asher Angel) case, by shouting out one word—SHAZAM!—this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam (Zachary Levi), courtesy of an ancient wizard. Still a kid at heart—inside a ripped, godlike body—Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them! Can he fly? Does he have X-ray vision? Can he shoot lightning out of his hands? Can he skip his social studies test? Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of a child. But he’ll need to master these powers quickly in order to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong).

Joining Zachary Levi in the film are Asher Angel (Andi Mack) as Billy Batson, and Mark Strong (Kingsman) in the role of Super-Villain Dr. Thaddeus Sivana. The film also stars Jack Dylan Grazer (IT) as Billy’s best friend and ultimate superhero enthusiast, Freddy, part of the foster family that includes Mary, played by Grace Fulton (Annabelle: Creation); Darla, played by Faithe Herman (This is Us); Eugene, played by Ian Chen (Fresh Off the Boat); and Pedro, played by Jovan Armand (Hawaii Five-0). Cooper Andrews (The Walking Dead) and Marta Milans (Killer Women) play foster parents Victor and Rosa Vasquez, with Ron Cephas Jones (This is Us) as the Wizard.

Christopher Godsick, Jeffrey Chernov, Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia are serving as executive producers. Shazam! is set largely in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and principal photography will take place in Toronto. A New Line Cinema production, Shazam! is set for release on April 5, 2019.