While Shazam!: Fury of the Gods will include a number of big names from the current era of the DC Universe, Dwayne Johnson doesn't appear to be one of them.
Dwayne Johnson helped to close out 2022 for the DCU with Black Adam, an antihero with irrefutable ties to Zachary Levi's Shazam, although the two haven't shared a movie together yet. For a time, they were actually set to make their DC debuts together in an early version of 2019's Shazam, but Johnson revealed that he publicly asked Warner Bros. not to make that movie and do a disservice to his ultra-powerful character.
Now, with Johnson's feelings about that potential direction being public knowledge, it's no surprise to hear what The Rock reportedly said when asked to cameo in Levi's next solo outing.
The Rock Said No to Shazam 2 Cameo
The Wrap's Umberto Gonzalez revealed that Black Adam star Dwayne Johnson passed on an offer from Warner Bros. and DC Films to briefly appear in Shazam!: Fury of the Gods.
Reportedly, The Rock turned down a "cameo" role in the sequel, due to release in March 2023:
"Rock passed on doing a cameo in Shazam 2 when he was asked."
This isn't the first instance of reports indicating Johnson's dislike for Shazam. The Wrap previously reported that The Rock held a "thinly veiled disdain" for Zachary Levi's character.
Johnson and his team even reportedly asked that a scene mentioning Black Adam be removed from Shazam, wanting the two characters to be as separate as possible at this time.
Will Shazam and Black Adam Ever Meet on Screen?
While DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran have a plan laid out for the DCU that will be released next year, things are incredibly up in the air until that news settles everything down. But what's being made unmistakably clear is that Dwayne Johnson wasn't feeling the idea of not only bringing his character into a movie with Shazam, but even having them mentioned in each other's movies at all.
Zachary Levi had offered his own hopes to see Black Adam and Shazam meet at some point, picturing the two god-like figures going head-to-head in a battle for the ages on the big screen.
Shazam 2 will reportedly feature a cameo from Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman while also featuring a top-notch cast of characters, including Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu as two of the sequel's villains. But when looking at the characters that could make contact with Billy Batson's alter-ego in this movie, or even as a tease for a threequel, Black Adam should have seemingly been at the top of the list.
Interestingly enough, all of this could end up being a moot point in a few weeks once the new era of the DCU is revealed in full to the public. Fans are only hoping that Johnson and Levi may get another shot at glory in their roles, but this could also be the end of the road for both of them as DC ends its current era with its next four releases.
Shazam!: Fury of the Gods will debut in theaters on March 17, 2023.
