Comic-Con 2014: Dwayne Johnson Confirms Shazam Announcement?

Dwayne Johnson has been teasing a role in a big DC Comics superhero movie for quite some time. Back in March he even gave his fans clues as to which hero he was getting ready to play. According to Johnson, the character had to be complex, powerful, and well known, but never the subject of his own movie before. Although there was some speculation that perhaps Dwayne Johnson would be playing John Stewart, aka one of the other Green Lanterns, the safe money was on Shazam, aka “Captain Marvel,” who is essentially a magical analogue of Superman, and whose secret identity is actually a young boy named Billy Batson, who transforms when he says the word “Shazam.”

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In a new interview with Total Film, Dwayne Johnson doesn’t come right out and say it, but he does hint that Shazam – a movie already rumored for a May 2016 release date – was the right answer all along. And the announcement could come as early as Comic-Con 2014.

“I will say this. There’s a character out there that we’re going to announce very soon that I’m going to play, and I’ll just say this: This character has the power of Superman, he can throw down. Just say the word. That’s all I’m going to say.”

Power of Superman? “Just say the word?” Unless Dwayne Johnson is an outrageous tease, it sure sounds like he’s going to be playing Shazam.

And what could be “very sooner” than an announcement at Comic-Con 2014, where Warner Bros. was already rumored to be announcing their upcoming slate of superhero movies? It hardly makes sense to announce a Shazam movie with one of the world’s most recognizable stars a week afterwards, does it?

CraveOnline will report on the Warner Bros. Comic-Con panel in Hall H, which starts at 10am on July 26.

This Week in Film News – Week Ending 07/25/14

William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.