Dwayne Johnson Wants Armie Hammer to Play SHAZAM in the DCEU
During a recent interview with We Got This Covered, Dwayne Johnson talks about taking on the role of Black Adam in the DCEU and what attracted him to the character saying:
"I love the idea that the backstory, as he starts off as a slave. I fell like when somebody is oppressed that way, but has a bigger ambition and has a greater belief that he oppression that's holding him down, that's a powerful place to be. Family getting killed, coming back from that, there's a lot of elements about Black Adam that have attracted me for a very, very, very, very long time. So, I'm excited about it."
He goes on to say that he's had some great meetings with Warner Bros. and the DC Entertainment team about the film and the direction they want to take the character. He is then asked point blank who he would cast in the role of the hero Shazam, to which Johnson replied:
"I'm gonna throw one name out here, and I want to see how the fans are going to react to this... A guy who I met, and after I met him I was like 'man that guy's such a cool guy!' He's a lot bigger than I thought he would be and when I walked away I remember telling our producer, who I've worked with for a long time, ... we both looked at each other and was like 'possibly Shazam?' and we were like, 'yes.'"
He then says "I'm not even going to tell you his name, I'm just going to say... Lone Ranger." Obviously, the actor he's talking about here is Armie Hammer. Johnson thinks he would be the perfect actor to take on the role, and I honestly love the idea! It's not hard to imagine Hammer in the role of Shazam at all. He would be able to slip right into the character. He's certainly got the look!
Johnson goes on to say that the studio doesn't even know that he is having these conversations about casting Hammer, but he loves the idea of it and it sounds like an actor that he's going to pursue. He also points out that Hammer is one of a handful of actors that they are considering, but the fact that he went out of his way to mention Hammer's name tells us Hammer is most likely his first choice.
Whether or not Hammer is cast in the role has yet to be seen. Hammer has been teasing his involvement with the DCEU over the past few months and fans think it has something to do with Green Lantern, but now we really know what the teases are all about!
What do you all think about the possibility of Hammer taking on the role of Shazam?