Black Adam won’t appear in Shazam!, or at least not in the film proper. There’s always a chance there’s a teaser at the end hyping him up but that’s not a guarantee at this point. The decision to pull Shazam’s most iconic nemesis from this film was done before director David F. Sandberg and star Zachary Levi came onto the film. Talking to ComicBook.com, Sandberg seemed to agree with the decision, saying;
Early on before I came on board they had experimented with the possibility of doing a Shazam vs Black Adam movie but I think they felt that that was, you know, it was better to just focus on Shazam first and give him his proper space and not have to also do Black Adam. So it was a way of, like, have Sivana take more space and that, actually let him have some powers to play around with. So he could be a formidable foe.
Levi on the other hand, who plays the actual hero of Shazam in the film, was completely on board with the decision, saying to Brandon Davis of ComicBook.com;
By the time I got the script, Black Adam was no longer a part of the initial Shazam! offering of this first film and I think that was a very intelligent decision made by everyone involved, including The Rock, who is still to this point attached to play Black Adam. Because trying to do two origin stories that you’d really — and by the way, our movie does that a little bit. You get some origin for Sivana but you’d have to spend a heck of a lot more explaining Black Adam and explaining Billy Batson and Shazam! and so its like how did we get all that without feeling like we’re diluting everything. So, the collective powers that be all were like ‘Hey, let’s just, we’ll break it up,’ so by the time I saw a script it was Shazam! and Sivana was the baddie.
Yet there in lies the problem, even Shazam! producer Peter Safran has no clue what’s going on with the Black Adam film. He also told ComicBook.com that the film is still in limbo, saying;
Listen, we don’t know but I’ve gotta believe that there’s gonna be a standalone Black Adam movie before there’s ever a movie with Shazam and Black Adam sharing the screen.
They have the star of the film, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, and there is some buzz around Johnson playing Black Adam. So the only real reason I can deduce with why they haven’t started production is that Warner Bros. isn’t sure the Shazam! franchise is worth the squeeze just yet. Though that’s merely speculation.
In Other News…
Despite getting a third season, two major cast members of Star Trek: Discovery appear to be departing the show. Anson Mount and Rebecca Romijn are leaving their roles as Captain Pike and Number One respectively, as their contracts have expired. They were solely brought on for the 2nd season in hopes of getting old-school Trek fans into the series by showing iconic characters on the new show. The facts are that most Trek fans don’t seem to be paying attention to it and CBS is aware of that. Many reviews cite The Orville as a more faithful adaptation of Star Trek than the new series for CBS. That can’t sit well with CBS who are relying on the Star Trek series to sell their fledgling brand.
DC Comics will be replacing Bryan Hitch on Hawkman following the 12th issue of the book. The longtime artist for DC revealed on Twitter that he’s going to start work on Two New Properties but failed to mention which one’s. Writer Robert Venditti is not being removed from the book, which make it feel like Hitch earned his dismissal from the book for some reason. Usually when a book gets a shakeup, everyone goes, not just one part. And if there is just one removed, it’s usually not an award winning artist.
Quick Hits – DC Universe’s Titans series has added Chella Man as Jericho/Joseph Wilson for the show’s upcoming second season. He’s going to play the son of Deathstroke, played by Esai Morales. According to Fandom on Twitter, James McAvoy is interested in playing The Joker in a future DC property. Star of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, John Rhys-Davies, of Lord of the Rings fame, revealed to the Toronto Comic-Con that he and Jerry O’Connell are inquiring to NBC about a Sliders reboot.