The Rock Confirms He's Playing Villain Black Adam in 'Shazam!'

The deal between Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Warner Bros. apparently went through. The former wrestler confirmed that he had scored a role in the DC Comics adaptation, "Shazam!", although he won't be the superhero.

The Rock tweeted on Wednesday, September 3 a comic image of villain Black Adam attacking Shazam. " 'Kneel at his feet or get crushed by his boot.' My honor to become.. #BlackAdam #TheAntiHero #DCComics," he captioned it, adding later, "BLACK ADAM. A complex psychology, motivated by bad ass dominance with a devilish charm. This'll be fun. #Teth #Shazam."

In the comic books, the villain is the son of an ancient pharaoh who is chosen by Shazam to be his successor due to his presumed moral purity. However, his hunger for power made him kill the pharaoh and assume the Egyptian throne.

New Line's president Toby Emmerich told EW that this would be a different kind of superhero movie. "It feels to me like Shazam will have a tone unto itself," he explained. "It's a DC comic, but it's not a Justice League character, and it's not a Marvel comic. The tone and the feeling of the movie will be different from the other range of comic book movies."

Commenting on The Rock's casting, Emmerich said, "Black Adam is a complex character. The villain in superhero movies is often, I think, what makes the movie. And I thought Dwayne's take on the character, and the way that he saw Black Adam, was really compelling and fun."

With The Rock playing the villain, the role of Shazam and his teenage alter ego Billy Batson remain open. But the project is moving quickly with WB already securing the url registration for ShazamMovie.com. Sources told Variety that Darren Lemke was hired to pen the script.

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