Shazam 2 is Filming This Summer At The Same Time As Black Adam

Released in April 2019, the original Shazam introduced Asher Angel as 14-year old street-smart foster kid Billy Batson and Zachary Levi as the film's namesake, the superhero Billy turns into by calling out his name. Praised by critics for its self-aware humor and deeper themes about found families and emotional trauma, Shazam went on to become a proper box office success and now has a sequel in the pipeline for an announcement in April 2022.

For years, the (reported)the plan was for The Rock Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam to have an appearance in the first Shazam movie. However, in no small part thanks to The Rock's sky-rocketing popularity over the last decade, things changed and the character has since been granted a film of his own, which will open in December 2021. It's speculated the Black Adam movie will evolve the longtime DC Comics villain into more of an antihero before he and Shazam finally cross paths in the DCEU, potentially in Shazam 3 (should it happen). Audiences might even get a small taste of that in the next couple of years.

According to GWW, Shazam 2 is currently gearing up to start filming in July, which is the same month Black Adam begins shooting (as Johnson announced last fall). Given the movies are releasing less than three and a half months apart, there's bound to be some overlap in their production timelines, even if Shazam 2 rolls camera a little later than tentatively projected.

Considering they're releasing back to back in the DCEU slate, it just makes sense for The Black Adam and Shazam 2 Films to crossover in some fashion and teases the inevitable showdown between their namesakes. that would be much easier to film the two films at the same time. Though, this wouldn't mean Black Adam is the secret baddie in Shazam 2; previously, Levi said it's unlikely his and Johnson's superheroes will meet up properly until Shazam 3 and maybe even after the Black Adam 2 movie (again if it happens). Also, there is nothing to prevent Shazam from being referenced in Black Adams' post-credits scene or vice versa with Shazam 2.

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With Shazam director David F. Sandberg and author Henry Gayden have back for the sequel, the chances are in favor of Shazam 2 turning out well enough to Warner Bros. to want to keep the franchise not only going, but growing by bringing Black Adam into the fold. The latter's movie is similarly expected to be a commercial success, if only thanks to Johnson's draw at the box office. And while the DCEU has found its footing post-Justice League by moving away from the MCU shared universe model, this is one case where a crossover not only makes sense, it should benefit both sub-franchisees from a storytelling perspective. Whether this will happen in Shazam 2 or Black Adam will remain to be seen.