Dwayne Johnson stopped Warner Bros from introducing Black Adam in 'Shazam!' 

If Warner Bros had its way, then 'Black Adam' would have debuted back in 2019 in 'Shazam'. It was Dwayne Johnson, who plays the superhero in the upcoming DC film, who convinced the studio to create a standalone film for 'Black Adams'. 

According to a report in Variety, the script of 'Shazam!' which went into development in 2014, consisted of origin stories for the title character and Black Adam. 

Both the super-powered fictional individuals have a shared history in the DC comics, so it seemed fitting to launch their big screen iterations together in one film. 

However, when  Johnson saw the first draft of the film, he realised Black Adam deserved a separate film. Speaking to Vanity Fair magazine, Johnson said, "When the first draft of the movie came to us, it was a combination of Black Adam and Shazam: Two origin stories in one movie."

"Now that was the goal, so it wasn't a complete surprise. But when I read that, I just knew in my gut, 'We can`t make this movie like this. We would be doing Black Adam an incredible disservice.' It would've been fine for Shazam having two origin stories converge in one movie, but not good for Black Adam," he added.

Revealing how he fixed the situation, Johnson continued, "I made a phone call. 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.`"

Fortunately Warner Bros agreed to listen to Johnson and now the actor is all set to play the lead in the upcoming standalone 'Black Adam' tentpole this fall. 

The actor has repeatedly promised moviegoers that his 'Black Adam' movie will forever change the DC universe on the big screen.

Joining Johnson in the film are Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari and Pierce Brosnan. 'Black Adam' is set to release in theatres on October 21, 2022.