It should not come as a surprise, Dwayne Johnson took his Black Adam training very seriously, putting in the work once the kids were asleep. That was then, and now Black Adam is to be released, with lots of hype surrounding the film. This all started years ago when DJ first unveiled his attire for the film. Since then, the hype has only grown. In the following, we'll take a look at how Black Adam was not meant to be, at least initially, as its origin story was supposed to be told in the Shazam film.Dwayne Johnson made the bold decision to call the producers himself and request a separate film be done. We'll reveal exactly what DJ said and how the producers reacted to such a bold decision.
Dwayne Johnson Was Not Into The Idea Of Black Adam's Story Being Told In The Shazam Film
Shazam came close to looking very different. The film had a different plot at the start, which also included Black Adam's story. In truth, the film ultimately did completely fine without the character arc, bringing in $366 million at the box office. In addition, Black Adam's role change dramatically and that had everything to do with Dwayne Johnson, especially after he would read the script.
Alongside ET, DJ opened up about his decision to get Black Adam his own film.
He revealed, "When the first draft of [‘Shazam!’] came to us, it was a combination of Black Adam and Shazam: Two origin stories in one movie,” he said. “Now that was the goal — so it wasn’t a complete surprise."
"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.”
Listening to his gut, Dwayne Johnson made the bold decision to call the producers themselves, making a major request to separate Black Adam entirely.
Dwayne Johnson Called The Studio Himself Requesting Black Adam Turn Into Its Own Story And Film
DJ got the script five to six years prior. Like everyone else, he was into the concept, however, telling two origin stories seemed like a lot, and a disservice to Black Adam.
With that in mind, DJ made a bold phone call. He recalls, "I made a phone call. 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.’”
Producer Beau Flynn recalls the very moment DJ made the move, and the phone call was an intimidating experience. He revealed alongside Comic Book, "I got a phone call very early in the morning from Dwayne Johnson which is always very intimidating," Flynn said.
"He called Hiram and I, he just said, 'Brothers," he said, "We're gonna make Black Adam. We're gonna tell this story. It's so big and so important,' and that was it. It was really an amazing... Dwayne's instincts are so extraordinary but he was right."
Despite the fact that the script and process was already deep in, major changes were made, and that included DJ's wish.
Producers Hiram Garcia And Beau Flynn Felt Relieved By Dwayne Johnson's Decision
Although the script had some a very long way with Black Adam included, producer Hiram Garcia admitted, telling one story felt extremely 'freeing'.
The producer went on to reveal, "When Dwayne sent us that message and it shook us up, then we all were like, 'Oh, this is so much easier now.' We saw the patch. Shazam! turned into the great property that it is and that movie came out great. I think you guys will see with this, tonally we honor Black Adam."
It all worked out as Shazam enjoyed major success on its own, despite the initial vision. Given the hype alone for Black Adam, it is evident, DJ had a huge vision for the character and one that is coming to life.
