The Rock is Black Adam

Published by Jeff Leins on November 6, 2007

Last month, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson asked fans if he should play a good guy (Captain Marvel) or a bad guy (Black Adam) in the DC Comics movie Shazam!

Please, don’t confuse this with everyone’s favorite Kazaam, starring none other than Shaquille O’Neal.

“Shazam” is the name that DC Comics markets the Captain Marvel comics under, since Marvel Comics technically owns the rights to the Captain Marvel comic book. So it can be a little confusing. That’s the reason why they aren’t just calling the movie Captain Marvel, which is slightly less lame and doesn’t require wacky punctuation.

Shazam! actually refers to the word little Billy must say in order to turn from sweet boy to super hero Captain Marvel via a bolt of lightning. The word is also an acronym for the gods that were combined for all the special abilities. Oh, and it’s the name of the wizard who gave Captain Marvel and Black Adam their powers.

Black Adam is Captain Marvel’s key rival, an anti-hero whose idea of justice involves extreme measures. He’s “Black Adam” because of the suit, it’s not a racial thing. Calm down Al Sharpton.

So, to recap, Shazam means eight different things, but is not related to the movie with Shaq.

No idea who will play Captain Marvel yet. My money’s on Gilbert Gottfried.