Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is joining the DC Entertainment Universe—as a badass supervillain.

And as of Thursday, it looks like he’ll be getting a little more time in the spotlight.

After being attached to play the nefarious Black Adam in the upcoming Shazam movie for over five years, Johnson will be getting his own standalone Black Adam movie from New Line Cinema and DC Comics, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The original Shazam film will now be split into two projects: one featuring Shazam and his battle against Black Adam, and another following Black Adam on his own.

Johnson teased some major news regarding the character after meeting with DC at their main offices last week, and now it’s safe to say that the sit-down was a very productive one.

While Black Adam may not have quite the name recognition of, say, Batman or Superman, the character has been around since 1945 and has been a part of the DC comic book world since 1973. He has a wide range of powers, including superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and wisdom, as well as expert skills in hand-to-hand combat. So yeah, it sounds like Johnson is a good fit.

It’s not really a shock to see Johnson get his own film, considering he’s the highest-paid actor in the world. But the news opens up some very interesting—and fun—possibilities: Will Johnson’s Black Adam interact with Superman (Men’s Fitness cover star Henry Cavill) in future films? Will be be more of an anti-hero than a villain, considering he’s “The Rock”?

DC has a ton of possibilities to explore—and now they have one of the most popular actors in the world in their stable of superpowered characters.

 

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