DC To Include Black Adam in Shazam 2, A Rare Attempt at Franchise Continuity

BURBANK, CA–Warner Bros. executives announced today that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will reprise his role as Black Adam in the upcoming sequel Shazam: Fury of the Gods. This move marks a step toward franchise continuity, a rare sign of progress among DC’s films and shows.

“Black Adam is Shazam’s major nemesis in the comics, so the characters are easily connected already,” explained new head of DC Films James Gunn. “And since both movies are part of the DCEU, it was just a natural and obvious choice for the characters to appear in the same film.”

“This really shouldn’t be surprising,” Gunn continued. “Releasing Black Adam less than six months before Fury of the Gods should have been a clear setup to everyone. Do you really think we’d do that and then not give fans the payoff of seeing the two characters together? That would be a terrible missed opportunity on our part, and the result of really poor planning.”

“That’s the whole point of a shared universe–to have the characters interact with each other, team up, and maybe come together for a big crossover every few years. It’s a Marvelous idea, really. It wouldn’t make any sense to establish a shared universe but then just do a bunch of solo movies that don’t connect to each other.”

“We’re also thinking of maybe streamlining some of our 37 different TV universes,” Gunn explained. “I mean, do we really need another new CW show that isn’t part of the Arrowverse–or another Batman show without Batman in it?”

Shazam: Fury of the Gods hits theaters in March, and will definitely, obviously include Black Adam. It would be really dumb if it didn’t.