The Rock reveals who he will be playing in a DC comic film
The Rock officially announced he will play Black Adam in the Shazam! film, based on the DC Comics title of the same name:
Debuting in 1945, Black Adam, like Shazam!, utters a magic word in order to be transformed by magical lightning into his super-powered form. He was the ancient Egyptian predecessor of Shazam! who became corrupted after receiving his powers.
He's one of the more powerful and popular DC Comic villains and will allow Rock to play a darker character. In recent years, he has also been the ruler of the fictional country Kahdaq.
The Shazam! character (known at the time as Captain Marvel) was originally created in 1939 by Fawcett Comics and became some popular that it actually threatened Superman's popularity. DC Comics sued over copyright infringement, leading to Fawcett shuttering the comic. DC eventually purchased the character and folded it into their comic line. In 2011, they re-named the entire character "Shazam!" to prevent confusion with Marvel Comic's own, unrelated Captain Marvel character.
The Shazam! film is slated for 2016 as part of a new DC Comics Cinematic universe of connected characters and films, in Warner Bros.' attempt to play catch-up to the more successful Marvel Cinematic Universe.
