Black Adam Will Arrive Before A 'Shazam!' Sequel Appearance

Shazam! arrives in theaters in early April focused solely on its titular hero and a villain by the name of Sivana. When the film was originally announced, it was expected to feature Dwayne Johnson as the iconic Shazam villain Black Adam. However, behind-the-scenes details shifted and Johnson's character was removed from the film in favor of his own movie. While the Zachary Levi-lead Shazam! is not completely without some nods to the popular DC Comics villain, Johnson won't be debuting in the film and it doesn't sound like he is primed for the first sequel, either.

"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," Shazam! producer Peter Safran told ComicBook.com.

It should come as no surprise that Black Adam will most likely have his own origin story film before he clashes with Shazam! on the big screen. The future of DC Comics movies will be more focused on telling individual character stories than ensemble efforts.

"Yeah I think that is the goal, it is giving heroes their time to shine and not feeling like you have to shoehorn in some universal connection amongst them all," Safran explained. "The studio's been incredibly supportive and DC's been supportive about saying take the time that you need to introduce these characters in the right way and tell the stories that you really want to tell, and that the audiences really want to see with these characters."

As the story goes, both Safran and Sandberg will return for the inevitable Shazam! sequel which does not yet have a release date.

Johnson is an executive producer on Shazam! with his Seven Bucks Productions team of Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia. Plus, he's a daunting physical specimen to come face to face with, which when paired with the producer fact has Levi hesitant to fire off anything but an invitation to the People's Champ.

"I have no warning shots to fire at Mr. The Rock," Levi said. "I would be honored if you wanna come and be a part of our world that you're also producing because your names on the yeah that'd be great."

What do you want to see in a Shazam! sequel? Are you ready to see Black Adam make his way to the big screen! Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Twitter, @BrandonDavisBD!

Shazam! hits theaters on April 5.