Dwayne Johnson has been linked to the role of Shazam’s nemesis Black Adam since back in 2014, but we still haven’t seen him show up in the DC Extended Universe as of yet. The plan was for the character to debut in Shazam!, arriving in 2019, but he was ultimately removed from the movie and replaced with Mark Strong’s Dr. Sivana. Instead, it was believed that the ruler of Kahndaq would appear in Suicide Squad 2 as the latest threat for Task Force X to face.
That’s the impression we’ve been under since last November, but now it seems that Johnson’s long-awaited debut as the supervillain has been pushed back yet again. According to Daniel R. – who’s proven reliable with his DCEU info before – his sources say that Black Adam isn’t in Suicide Squad 2 at all anymore and it’s unknown where he’ll show up at this point.
Interestingly, this info gels with another rumor that reared its head over the weekend. Joe Manganiello allegedly revealed to a fan at a convention that he’s set to return as Deathstroke in Suicide Squad 2, filling the role of the movie’s main villain. If the decision has been made to use Slade Wilson as the central antagonist, that would be why Adam’s been removed from the project.
If we were to speculate a reason as to why this might’ve happened, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Johnson had scheduling conflicts which made it difficult to star in the DC film – the guy’s one of the busiest actors in Hollywood, after all. What’s more, it could also have been a story-driven decision. Joel Kinnaman’s previously stated that the aim is for the sequel to be much more grounded that the misguided first movie, and a crackshot assassin would fit that tone a lot better than a super-strong immortal ancient Egyptian, don’t you think?
Suicide Squad 2 is set to be directed by Gavin O’Connor and as well as Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Joker and Killer Croc will all return as well, with the sequel currently eyeing a release at some point in late 2019.
