Dwayne Johnson Accused Of Killing Shazam And Black Adam Franchises

Dwayne Johnson is being accused of having killed the Shazam and Black Adam franchises and it’s all because of his ego and his inability to control it. This all comes after Shazam! Fury Of The Gods was released in cinemas, and it’s looking like the movie isn’t going to perform all that well at the box office.

Dwayne Johnson’s ego is being accused of killing the Shazam and Black Adam franchises

Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

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Here’s @ResonantJustice full quote via his Twitter account:

The Rock refusing to play ball with Shazam kinda killed both franchises. Very frustrating. Shazam 2 could’ve easily been a Black Adam vs Shazam movie with Superman. And you would’ve seen all the money at the box office.

The Rock refusing to play ball with Shazam kinda killed both franchises. Very frustrating. Shazam 2 could’ve easily been a Black Adam vs Shazam movie with Superman. And you would’ve seen all the money at the box office. https://t.co/woCHyvxa9Y

— RJ (@ResonantJustice) March 18, 2023

This was in reaction to the news that Shazam 2’s director, David F. Sandberg, revealed that it’s looking like the Shazam train has come to an end with this second movie. Here’s what he had to say on the matter (via The Hollywood Reporter):

What makes the most sense is to have them fight each other, so it’s money left on the table. But it’s how it is.

Is Shazam dead at DC Studios?

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So, Shazam! Fury of the Gods was released over the weekend and only grossed an estimated $30.5 million at the box office from 4,071 cinemas in the United States. This is 44% below the $53.5 million opening that the first Shazam movie earned in April 2019.

It had been revealed that there were plans to have Johnson’s Black Adam be introduced in the first Shazam movie, which might have actually helped the Shazam franchise to succeed. However, Johnson just flat out refused to accept that Black Adam was, in fact, a Shazam villain. He wanted the character to be an ‘anti-hero’ and star in his own standalone movies.

This is where Johnson’s ego really got in the way of the success of both franchises. If he had gone along with the original idea to have Black Adam be the main villain Shazam, then we could have had a real box office juggernaut on our hands.

Instead, the movie ended up doing OK, but not brilliantly.

“I made a phone call,” Johnson previously told Vanity Fair. “I said, ‘I have to share my thoughts here. It’s very unpopular…’ because everybody thought, ‘Hey, this script is great, let’s go make this movie.’ I said, ‘I really think that you should make Shazam!, make that movie on its own in the tone that you want. And I think we should separate this as well.’”

Johnson then took to Twitter to reveal the following:

Original script had both #BlackAdam #Shazam establishing their origin stories in one film. I fought hard for both characters (+ JSA) to have their own stand alone films for the fans to enjoy. And protect Black Adam’s ruthless & extremely violent tone as we build out #DCEU.

💯 true
Original script had both #BlackAdam #Shazam establishing their origin stories in one film. I fought hard for both characters (+ JSA) to have their own stand alone films for the fans to enjoy.
And protect Black Adam’s ruthless & extremely violent tone as we build out #DCEU https://t.co/KFrokn5Tjn

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) August 15, 2022

What do you make of this news? Do you think that Dwayne Johnson is the reason why the Shazam and Black Adam franchises seem to be dead at DC Studios? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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