The Rock has revealed one of his picks to play the namesake of the upcoming superhero adventure, Shazam!. When it was announced earlier this year that Dwayne Johnson would be getting his own solo Black Adam movie, separate from the long-gestating Shazam! film, it was likely a shock to many fans. Johnson had been attached to the Shazam! adaptation for quite some time, but with the wrestler-turned-actor’s rise to superstardom, DC has seen fit to give the villainous Black Adam character a chance to carry his own film in the DC Extended Universe.
Johnson has noted before that both the Black Adam and Shazam! films are part of the DCEU’s attempts to further build its world, but many fans have begun to wonder when the Shazam (or Captain Marvel) character would finally be cast. Many names have been thrown into the mix, from Derek Theler to Liam Hemsworth, but the Shazam! film has still not yet found its star. Now Black Adam himself has thrown in a potential candidate for the role, in the form of frequently-rumored Green Lantern actor candidate, Armie Hammer.
In an interview with We Got This Covered, Johnson hinted heavily at his support of Hammer. Though he refused to name the actor outright, he did reference The Lone Ranger (which Hammer starred in) outright. It’s important to note that Johnson said Hammer is just one of many names in talks right now and that no contracts have been signed. For Johnson’s full endorsement, read below:
“I’m not even going to tell you his name, I’m just going to say Lone Ranger… I just remember meeting him and walking away going, ‘Man, that guy would look great, I bet, as Shazam.’ And by the way, he’s one of a handful.”
Again, neither the interviewer nor Johnson names Hammer outright, but the pieces are all there for fans to fit together and the actor certainly has the look to pull off Shazam’s Billy Batson character and provide a nice foil for Johnson’s Black Adam somewhere down the line. Also important is Johnson’s claim that Hammer is one of what is presumably many actors in the running right now. While that may be true, Johnson’s been attached to the Shazam! project for years and has had meetings with Geoff Johns, so it’s hard to imagine that Johnson doesn’t at least have a little sway.
An issue that could potentially keep Hammer out of the film, however, is his less-than-impressive box office run since his promising mainstream start in 2010’s widely-acclaimed The Social Network. DC may not want to bank on such an unproven actor given their recent failure to find critical success for DCEU films. Regardless, it seems fans will have to wait a little longer for Shazam! to find its lead.
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Source: We Got This Covered
