DC’s Shazam is going to be split into two films!

While such a move has been common among book to film adaptations in order to fill in as much of the story as possible into the movie (of course, it has nothing to do with profits…). It has never been done with comic book origin films.

But that is not the only unique aspect of this project because it seems that the two movies will tell the story of its hero and villain, respectively.

Telling the story of the villain or anti-hero is one unique thing that the DC Extended Universe has been doing that its rival, Marvel, has not. It all started with the successful launch of Suicide Squad, and, soon enough, a Harley Quinn spin-off movie which focuses on one of its main characters was announced.

So now we’ll be getting a movie about Shazam’s arch-rival, Black Adam, and, to make things even better, he will be played by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.

Black Adam is a complex character with a long history and is an ancient version of his rival. This is a major contrast to Shazam, who is the alter ego of a teenager named Billy Batson, a character that is yet to be cast.

Black Adam, or, as he is originally known, Teth-Adam, was a Prince of Ancient Egypt, being the son of Pharaoh Ramesses II. He starts out good, and he impressed Egypt’s High Priest, so he was granted superhuman abilities. Like Billy, he would utter the word “Shazam!” and become a costumed superhero. He becomes Egypt’s protector but, in the end, falls in love with a villain in disguise. This starts out his dark and evil path.

cinemablend.com

Now that sounds like a great premise to build a movie on. And it is a smart move for DC to flesh out the back story of its anti-heroes because it is the one thing that is weak with the MCU — with Loki the lone exception.

Shazam is set for a 2019 release, while Black Adam‘s release schedule is yet to be announced.