Shazam actor Zachary Levi recently spoke on now-defunct plans for his DC hero to crossover with Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam.
Levi is set to star in his DCU sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, with the future of his character seemingly up in the air as the franchise heads in a different direction.
While a number of exciting names will be a part of the Shazam 2 action, one DC personality that will not be showing up is Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam (despite the filmmaker and studio's best efforts).
The two characters have been intertwined in the world of DC Comics for decades; however, with Johnson's recent departure from the franchise, it is looking less and less likely that these iterations of the two characters will ever come face-to-face on-screen.
Zachary Levi's Black Adam Thoughts
At the world premiere for Shazam! Fury of the Gods, franchise star Zachary Levi spoke on what may have been planned when it comes to Shazam crossing over with Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam.
Levi told Deadline that somewhere "down the road," maybe the two heroes would have clashed, but "nobody ever told [him]:"
Deadline: “And Black Adam too, was there plans for Shazam and Black Adam to meet up on the big screen…”
Levi: “I mean, I think there was always some very, very, very 100,000 foot view of, down the road, maybe we would. But nobody ever told me that, so I don’t know."
This is in line with previous comments from the DC actor where he has continuously said that he would be "totally open to" coming to blows with Black Adam on-screen, but "that’s [ultimately] so far above [his] pay grade:"
"That’s all so far above my pay grade. I have no idea. I know that in the comics, and even in some animation, there’s been some really cool, epic battles between Shazam and Black Adam… Shazam, Superman and Black Adam. I know a lot of fans wanted that. I know I was totally open to that, but that’s all I know.”
Shazam! Fury of the Gods director David F. Sandberg also chimed in on the subject of the two characters crossing over, noting that there "hasn’t really been a conversation about that:"
“There hasn’t really been a conversation about that. I know, at the moment, Black Adam is sort of its thing and Shazam is its thing. Then we’ll see where it all goes in the future, but I haven’t really been a part of any conversations like that.”
Why Did Shazam & Black Adam Never Cross Over?
As the DCU moves into this next era, with the potential of new actors taking on both Shazam and Black Adam (although not confirmed), fans will be left wondering why Zachary Levi and Dwayne Johnson never got their DC characters together for some big-screen fun.
Well, as it turns out, it may have had a lot to do with the Black Adam actor himself. According to one insider Johnson holds some "thinly veiled disdain" for the Shazam films.
If everything worked out, it seems like Warner Bros. would have been more than happy to bring Black Adam and Shazam together. It is one of the most ready-made crossovers in DC Comics lore.
Instead, it seems the studio opted to bend to demands from Dwayne Johnson to have his DC blockbuster feature a (now infamous) Superman cameo instead of one with the Shazam Family.
Now, the DC faithful will be left waiting even longer for the two characters to show up on-screen together, as no concrete plans for either character within the new DCU have been made public.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is now playing in theaters.
