Following the release of Black Adam, much of the excitement walking out of movie theaters has surrounded Henry Cavill returning to his role as Superman. However, new reports are revealing details which claim Black Adam (and Shazam! before it) originally had sequences which teased very different elements of the future for some of the popular DC Comics characters. The details emerging indicate there was an earlier tease for what feels like the inevitable crossover between Black Adam and Shazam! which was removed, as well as a tease of Pierce Brosnan’s Doctor Fate returning.
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According to TheWrap, a sequence which would’ve teased Dwayne Johnson’s Teth-Adam being due for an encounter with Zachary Levi’s Billy Batson and Shazam! was removed from Shazam!. “The [Peter] Safran-produced Shazam! had filmed a deleted scene teasing the arrival of Black Adam in a potential sequel, but Johnson and Black Adam producers Dany and Hiram Garcia asked the studio to move the antihero away from his comic book rival,” the report reads. This would have been a scene attached to the first Shazam! movie, not a deleted scene from the now-in-theaters Black Adam or upcoming Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Once upon a time, Black Adam was supposed to be the main villain of the first Shazam! movie. Johnson and his team believed there was more story to be told with the Man in Black, so they opted to have the character debut in a self-titled film. With Shazam! producer Safran now serving as co-CEO of DC Studios and Johnson’s team appearing to be heavily embedded in the creative process for the Black Adam characters, it is unclear whether or not Black Adam and Shazam! are still due for a crossover.
At the premiere of Black Adam, Johnson shared a desire to play a long game with the DC Comics characters despite having Black Adam and Superman meet in his character’s debut film. According to the actor and producer, a feud between the powerhouses is “definitely not the next step.” Johnson shared a tweet containing the Black Adam premiere interview. “We have a lot more long term storytelling to do before that historic DCEU showdown and more new characters to establish,” he said.
Hiram Garcia, a longtime partner of Johnson’s as President of Production at Seven Bucks Productions, echoed a similar sentiment in an interview with ComicBook.com. “Our vision is, what we really want to establish is Superman exists in the same world as Black Adam,” Garcia said. “Both those guys exist in the same universe and that’s important for us. It’s in the universe where our JSA is and so forth. But we really wanted the world to know that these guys are going to cross paths and how we do it, we’re still working on it. We don’t want to give that away. But I will say that it’s much bigger than what people think.”
Meanwhile, The Direct is revealing details of another reportedly deleted sequence, this time from Black Adam. “According to The Direct’s sources, Black Adam filmed and deleted a second post-credits scene that would have teased the future of Doctor Fate in the DCU. This moment would have played in addition to Henry Cavill’s Superman return stinger, although the intended order of the two scenes remains unclear.”
Brosnan’s Doctor Fate was popular among critics and fans but given an ending in Black Adam which seemed to indicate the James Bond actor was only aboard to DC train for one film. This report would indicate there has, at least, been consideration for Doctor Fate to continue his journey in the DC Universe.
Do you want to see more of Doctor Fate going forward? Are you hoping for a Black Adam and Shazam! crossover? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Twitter! Black Adam is now playing in theaters.
