Black Adam star Dwayne Johnson receives blame for Shazam! Fury of the Gods' failure after vetoing two ideas that would have connected the two DC franchises together. Shazam and Black Adam were once meant to share the screen in their first live-action movies, but the plan changed in 2017 when The Rock was awarded a Black Adam solo movie and Shazam! was reworked with a new main villain. Fast forward a few years and Black Adam was a box office and critical disappointment, while Shazam! Fury of the Gods failed to recapture the excitement generated by the first movie. The result is both franchises likely not moving forward.
Now, The Wrap puts some of the blame for Shazam 2's failure at Dwayne Johnson's feet, as the Black Adam star reportedly vetoed ideas that would have seen Zachary Levi's Shazam cameo in Black Adam's post-credits scene or Justice Society characters appear in Shazam! Fury of the Gods' post-credits scene. The Rock reportedly wanted the DC Extended Universe to revolve around him and Henry Cavill's Superman, and Shazam was not part of his plan. Shazam 2 producer Peter Safran attempted to reuse the scrapped Black Adam idea only for Johnson to step in and prevent any Justice Society characters from appearing, resulting in Peacemaker characters being used instead.
