Dwayne Johnson is such a tease. The guy's been talking up his involvement with DC for years, constantly implying that he would be playing a major DC Comics character in a movie. He's been through the philosophies of the modern movie star, which is all about keeping all doors open, which has led to heavy duty speculation as to whom he would play. He's also got a loose tongue, so it was only a matter of time before someone pressed him on the subject.
Doing press for the upcoming Hercules, Johnson was pursued by Total Film and forced to answer exactly whom he was playing. His response was coy, but revealing. The real meat of the conversation is near the end, where the veil of secrecy begins to drop.
"It's the power of Superman... and it's not Green Lantern, by the way... he can throw down... just say the word, that's all I'm gonna say."
So, extremely powerful, not Green Lantern, and based around one word? We're talking Shazam here, folks. Formerly Captain Marvel (yes, both Marvel and DC have characters named Captain Marvel, because comics), the hero Shazam is a small child named Billy Batson. When trouble brews, Batson looks to the sky and harnesses the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of (huh) Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury. Yelling "SHAZAM!" turns this boy into the swiss army knives of superheroes, a caped figure that was actually more popular than Superman in the forties, before legal difficulties surrounding the name Captain Marvel sidelined him. Currently, DC has avoided any potential strife by just calling him Shazam.
Listen to Rock, in his own words. It's fascinating.
This adds more fuel to the possibility that the leaked DC/WB release schedule is true, since a Shazam movie was expected for 2016 despite no one being involved. Johnson has been attached to a Shazam movie for years, so presumably the delay was about where he would fit in with the larger DC universe being created onscreen. It feels like the mystery is over: welcome to the pantheon of onscreen superheroes, Dwayne Johnson. Don't step on Andrew Garfield on your way in.
Johnson's currently shooting San Andreas 3D, and has a role in the seventh Fast And The Furious. He's also attached to Journey 3 and G.I. Joe 3 as well. If DC wants him, they'll have to fight his busy schedule.
