Shazam! Star Zachary Levi Hopes to Throw Down With The Rock’s Black Adam

Zachary Levi admits he's not privy to plans for a crossover between Shazam! and the Dwayne [...]

By Cameron Bonomolo

Zachary Levi admits he's not privy to plans for a crossover between Shazam! and the Dwayne Johnson-starring Black Adam, saying a wished-for throwdown between the comic book archenemies is in the hands of superstar Johnson and producers DC Films. Shazam is co-produced by Johnson's Seven Bucks Productions, also backing Johnson vehicle Black Adam, where ancient wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) magically empowers the enslaved Teth-Adam (Johnson). Thousands of years later, after the wizard grants Billy Batson (Asher Angel) these same powers to become an adult-sized superhero champion (Levi), a freed Black Adam emerges as "one of the most powerful" beings in the DC Universe, according to Johnson.

Asked if Shazam will be going head-to-head with Johnson's Black Adam on Dan Fogler's 4D XPerience, Levi admitted with a laugh and a shrug, "That's well above my pay grade. I have no idea."

"The Rock is his own planet. He kind of does whatever [he wants], The Rock does what The Rock wanna do," Levi said. "So we'll see how that all plays out. But per the comic books, Black Adam and Captain Marvel — my true namesake — they're yin and yang to one another. They are identical."

Because the two magically-powered champions are "basically doppelgängers," Levi thought the Shazam role would go to an actor more closely resembling Johnson, whose casting dates back to 2014.

"I was like, 'No one's gonna hire me to be The Rock's twin. I don't think this is going to work out.' Thank God I was wrong," Levi said. "Black Adam is from the Captain Marvel/Shazam part of the DC universe, so I hope [they meet]. I think that would be awesome to be able to go and do that."

Levi added of Johnson, "He's doing his deal, the Black Adam stand-alone, and we're gonna do our sequel [Shazam! Fury of the Gods], and we'll see what goes from there." Levi previously speculated the matchup could happen in a potential Shazam! 3 or Black Adam 2.

At DC FanDome, where Johnson issued a warning addressed to the heroes of the DC Extended Universe, Johnson floated the idea of teaming up with — or beating down — Justice League powerhouses Superman (Henry Cavill) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot). The character, described by Johnson as "one of the most powerful superheroes, anti-heroes, villains, whatever you want to call him," will first battle Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) and other members belonging to the Justice Society of America in Black Adam.

"There's been multiple ongoing conversations on how everything will roll out and it's very exciting for myself as a filmmaker but even more so as a fan," Black Adam producer Hiram Garcia said about ties to the DCEU in a recent interview. "Unfortunately, I can't speak to that too much because it is still in the works, but I can say that on our end we're very focused on building out this world we're creating with Black Adam and the JSA."

Garcia continued, "Obviously, Shazam exists in that universe along with many other heroes, and believe me when I say we have very big ambitions for all these characters and the storylines we want to take them through."

Black Adam opens in theaters on December 22, 2021, followed by Shazam! Fury of the Gods on November 4, 2022.

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