When Shazam! was released in 2019, fans immediately started sharing their hopes that the character could eventually meet - and fight - Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam. With that anti-hero set to star in his own solo movie, a crossover seemed inevitable...until it wasn't.
Johnson is said to have had little to no interest in having his Black Adam share the screen with Shazam, likely due to the tonal differences between their respective franchises. The Rock isn't one to share the spotlight and instead wanted to build a slate of movies around his character, with the Justice Society and Superman thrown into the mix.
DC Studios has other ideas, of course, and we don't anticipate Shazam or Black Adam factoring into James Gunn and Peter Safran's DCU plans.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods director David F. Sandberg has already confirmed he lost two Justice Society members for the movie's mid-credits scene just a few days before shooting. That's understandably led to fans wondering whether it could be due to Johnson's protests at the time given how much power he once had at Warner Bros.
Regardless, Sandberg has now revealed whether he's disappointed to have never explored Shazam's dynamic with Black Adam.
"No, not really," he tells The Hollywood Reporter. "The thing about Black Adam is that he has the same powers as Shazam, and we did that in the first movie where we gave Sivana [Mark Strong] the same power. So I don’t think the fight itself would’ve been super interesting, but I do think it’s a missed opportunity."
"What makes the most sense is to have them fight each other, so it’s money left on the table. But it’s how it is."
As for what comes next for the filmmaker, it appears he's done with DC for now. "I started my Shazam journey right after Annabelle: Creation in 2017, and so it’s been quite a few years of just Shazam. So I’m very ready to move on and go back to horror and just try some other things."
The Shazam! sequel didn't include a single reference to Black Adam, so any sort of meeting was clearly off the table from the start. It's a perplexing decision and one that really will forever stand out as a major missed opportunity in the DCEU.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is now playing in theaters.