Shazam! director David F. Sandberg took a friendly jab at Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson while responding to a prophecy that Johnson recently made about the future of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).
The exchange started when Johnson, who will portray the titular supervillain in the upcoming Black Adam film, posted a photo of himself on social media. In the shot, Johnson wore a fitted Black Adam shirt and showed off his muscles. He captioned the post, "... The hierarchy of power in the DC UNIVERSE is about to change."
Sandberg used his post as a cheeky way to connect the Black Adam and Shazam characters, posting a photo of himself on Instagram wearing an adult-sized Shazam! onesie and staring straight into the camera.
Originally known as Captain Marvel, Shazam made his debut in Fawcett Comics back in 1939. The superhero and its related characters — including the hero's dark doppelgänger Black Adam — were later acquired by DC. It's been suggested in the past that Shazam, portrayed by Zachary Levi in 2019's Shazam!, could cross paths with Johnson's Black Adam in a future DCEU crossover film. While no news of this happening in the DCEU has been confirmed, the two characters previously faced off in 2010's animated Superman / Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam.
It was announced in the fall that the planned Shazam! sequel, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, is expected to start filming in early 2021. At the time, Levi noted, "We gotta get to it fast, the kids are growing fast." The sequel, which is also being helmed by Sandberg, was originally meant to premiere in April of 2022, but was delayed until November 2022 in part because of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Meanwhile, Black Adam is being directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and stars Johnson as Black Adam, Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher and Sarah Shahi in an unconfirmed role. It was also recently announced that Euphoria actor Quintessa Swindell will portray Cyclone. When the news went public, Johnson tweeted, "Ready to rumble. A pleasure to officially welcome, Quintessa Swindell to our BLACK ADAM cast. They'll be taking on the role of CYCLONE. Can't wait to work with them and we ready to rumble in the DC jungle." The film is schedule to begin production in spring 2021, but currently does not have a release date.
Source: Instagram