We've known that Dwayne Johnson was going to be Black Adam in the DC movie universe for about as long as there has been a thing we call the DC movie universe, and yet, we've been waiting years for the movie to actually happen. Black Adam was cast before there was even a plan for a Shazam! movie, much less a Shazam! actor, and yet we got that movie first. However, The Rock is getting ready to finally bring his DC anti-hero to the big screen, and he promises when he does, it's going to "change the hierarchy of power" in the DC universe.
In an Instagram image showing off Dwayne Johnson getting in shape for Black Adam, because apparently Black Adam has even more muscles than Dwayne Johnson already has, Johnson confirms the already announced plan that the movie is set to go before cameras this summer. He also promises that Black Adam is going to be a force to be reckoned with when he arrives in the DC Universe. Check out the world's largest back in the image below.
Of course, the biggest question one has to ask about The Rock's plans to change the hierarchy of the DC Universe, is what exactly is going on with the DC Universe that Dwayne Johnson plans to change? While the collection of projects that was being popularly referred to as the DC Extended Universe had a lot of potential and hype going for it when it got underway, the concept has largely faded over the last couple of years, while the movies themselves have become more successful. While the Aquaman movie starred the same character we met in Justice League, there was little feeling that the movie was meant to be anything other than a standalone film. DC's biggest recent success, Joker, was completely separate from the larger franchise.
The Shazam! movie made it clear that it was taking place within the same universe as movies like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but ultimately paid only the barest attention to that fact. Shazam! gave us a reference to the origin of Black Adam himself, and as such that movie certainly will also take place within the DC Universe, but it remains to be seen if that's really going to matter.
One movie that might give us an indication of what the future of the DC universe is, is this weekend's Birds of Prey. The film acts as a Harley Quinn focused spinoff to Suicide Squad, which itself was made during the period when building the larger universe was front and center, so perhaps BOP will build the larger universe a bit as well.
Dwayne Johnson himself has teased the possibility of Black Adam and Superman going head-to-head at some point, which has happened in the comics and other mediums. However, with there being no clear way forward on Superman as far as we know, that seems unlikely at this point. Still, the fact that DC hasn't simply stopped referencing the larger universe entirely clearly means the studio wants to keep it around, it might still prove useful now and then, even if it feels like large franchise crossing epics aren't in DC's future.
